'Cause I'm Free
~~YAY THE UPDATE YOU HAVE ALL BE WAITING FOR!! IS SHE ALIVE?? SHE SHE DEAD????????? READ ON TO FIND OUT!!:)~~

Mike lowered his head and leaned forward. The waiting room was quiet as he sat, staring at the white tile flooring. He had always hated coming to hospitals, even though he had only been to one once or twice. He hated the disinfectant smell, the sound of beds rolling down the corridors and the white walls and flooring.
“ Mike…oh God Mike…”
He raised his head to see Anna walking towards him quickly. He stood up slowly as she wrapped her arms around him. He dug his face into her shoulder and frowned. Anna could smell the smoke and blood on him. The crash must have been absolutely terrible. “ Anna…I tried to get…to get to her faster…” His sad voice was muffled into her shirt.
She lowered her eyes and stroked his hair. “ It’s okay…it wasn’t your fault.” She whispered into his ear.
“ S-she was in so much pain…”
“ I know.” She replied in a low tone.
He gave a shaky sigh and pulled away from her. She looked down at his trembling hands and stared at the drying blood. “ There was so much blood.” He sniffed.
It was clear his had been crying continuously before Anna had arrived at the hospital. “ Mike…are you going to be able to be here?” she asked.
“ I-I don’t know.” He answered. His eyes were full of pain and sorrow and Anna didn’t know if he’d be able to hold on. He looked like he was having a nervous breakdown.
“ Mike…sit.” She ordered gently.
He obeyed and slowly sat down. Anna flopped down beside him and stared at him with worry. “ I think you should go home.”
“ No, I’m not leaving her.” He replied quickly.
“ You’re tired and you’re in shock. You have to rest or you could break down.” She explained.
“ Anna I can’t leave…she’ll be alone…”
“ Mike, I’ll be here. I’m her mother remember?” she asked with a small smile. He stared at her with teary eyes.
“ Please don’t make me leave.” He pleaded.
He looked like he was on the verge of crying. Anna sighed heavily and nodded. “ Okay…” What he had seen at the crash site had frightened him to the very depths of his soul. He thought he had lost her. Thankfully she was in recovery, but the doctors still hadn’t elaborated on her condition yet. Anna wiped a tear from his cheek and gave a weak smile.
“ If she’s anything like you, she’ll survive this. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with your side of the family anyway. It’s like you people crave danger or something. I can’t believe they were on the wrong side of the road…playing chicken with other cars…of all the stupid things…” she muttered in thought.
Mike sighed heavily and looked up. A young doctor walked up to the two and gave a small smile. So…it must have been good news, hopefully. “ Laura is in stable condition.”
Mike and Anna gave heavy sighs of relief. “ Her vitals have all returned to normal and we have managed to repair the tissue damage in her abdomen. The internal bleeding has stopped and now her heart is pumping normally. She hit her head pretty bad so her recovery might take a little longer than expected. Other than that, she’s awake and she’s okay…just a little sleepy from the medication.” He explained cheerfully.
“ Can we see her?” Anna asked.
The doctor gave a small nod. “ You may, but Laura has made a request to speak with her father for a moment.” He replied.
Mike raised a brow of curiosity and looked at Anna. “ Go ahead.” She smiled.
“ Alright.” He replied quietly and followed the doctor to the small room.
“ I’ll leave you two alone.” The doctor smiled and left the room, closing the door.
Mike looked at his daughter and gave a small frown. An IV stuck out of her arm and she had many monitors surrounding her, monitoring her vitals. She had a small white band-aid covering the gash on her forehead. He noticed all the small bruises on her face and neck. Her dark eyes fluttered open at the soft breathing of her father. He slowly walked towards her and sat down in the chair beside the bed.
She gave a small painful sigh and winced. “ Stay…” she managed with a scratchy voice.
Mike lowered his eyes sadly and grabbed her hand. “ I’m not going anywhere.” He saw tears escaping her eyes. He wiped them away gently with his other hand and gave a weak smile.
“ Don’t cry.” He said quietly.
“ I-I’m sorry…”
“ For what?”
“ F-for saying I hated you…”
“ Laura, it’s okay, you were pissed.” He replied gently.
“ I don’t hate you.” She breathed.
He gave a small nod of acknowledgment. “ How are you feeling?” he asked. She swallowed hard and gripped his hand.
“ Tired.” She answered wearily.
Mike rubbed his thumb across the top of her hand and nodded. “ Laura, I want to talk to you about something.” She stared at him and waited for him to continue. “ When you were stuck in that van…I just…I couldn’t believe how incredibly scared I was. I thought you were going to blow up in flames with the vehicle…” Laura frowned slightly at his words.
“ I thought I was going to lose you. I thought that I was never going to see your face ever again…or hear your swears or watch you make that annoyed face at me…” he trailed off as tears threatened to pour from his eyes. She gave a small smile as he looked down. “ And I guess the only reason why I was strong enough to break that window was because I didn’t want you to die.” He explained softly.
“ Maternal in-.”
“ –Don’t say it.” He warned.
She gave a small laugh and blinked. He never realized it before, but he loved her laugh. “ Wow…you’re like my hero and shit.” She stated.
Mike rolled his eyes and shook his head. “ Well if you’d stop being so reckless then I wouldn’t have to be your hero and shit.”
“ I can’t believe it…” she answered.
“ Believe what?” he asked.
“ You actually sound like my father…this is so weird. I’m just waiting for you to say that I’m grounded.” She smiled.
Mike lowered his eyes. “ That’s your mom’s job.”
“ So you’re saying that mom is the one to ground me and you’re the one to save my life?” she asked with interest.
He raised a brow and gave a small smile. “ Laura if you’d be more careful then I wouldn’t have to keep saving your life. Being your dad is the most stressful job I’ve ever had.” He explained.
“ Ah you like it.” She muttered.
He chuckled lightly and heard a small knock on the door. “ Come in.” he called.
Anna walked in with a smile. “ Hey baby.”
“ Hi mom.” She replied.
Anna gave her a kiss on the forehead and sat down beside Mike. “ When can I come home?” she asked.
Anna glanced at Mike and then looked back at her. “ The doctors say you need a few days to recover but we could probably take you home before then.”
“ Good because I hate hospitals.” She muttered in response.
Mike smiled inwardly. It was amazing how much they were like each other. “ You and me both kid.” He stated.
“ Well we should probably leave and let you get some rest.” Anna smiled at her daughter.
“ Yeah, I’m kinda tired.” Laura replied and rubbed her eyes.
“ Sweet dreams, I love you baby.” Anna stated and kissed her again.
“ Love you too.” She muttered wearily.
Mike stood up as Anna waited for him near the door. “ See ya brat.” He smiled.
Laura lowered her eyes and sighed. “ Nice to know you care Mike.”
“ Well I don’t exactly see you jumping to the pump to say ‘I love you dad’.” He replied with a frown.
“ Why would I say that?” she asked with confusion.
“ Because I just saved your life.”
“ So?” she asked with an arched brow.
“ You know I could be fired right?”
“ Well I’m sure you can live off of your vast millions.” She answered.
“ Yeah says you.” Laura stuck out her tongue and of course Mike did back. Anna rolled her eyes and sighed heavily.
“ Why Anna, why him?” she asked herself.
“ Hey I heard that.” Mike frowned and walked towards her.
“ Well good because you were supposed to.” She laughed.
“ Why are all the women in this family mean to me?”
“ Because you’re such a pushover.” She smiled.
Laura laughed and pointed at them. “ Good one mom.”
“ Shut up.” Mike snapped at her.
“ You shut up.”
“ No you shut up.”
Anna frowned and grabbed Mike’s arm. “ Alright you two, knock it off. There will be plenty of time for this when she gets home.”
“ Oh but mommy can’t I stay?” Mike whined and pulled on her shirt. She raised a brow and smiled.
“ Mike, get in the car.” She ordered.
“ Alright, meet me there.” He laughed.
“ Don’t forget the let the door hit you on the way out!” Laura called.
He turned back his head and frowned at her. “ Retard.” He muttered.
“ Bastard.” She muttered back.
“ Stop.” Anna ordered.
Mike flashed Laura a grin and left the room. Anna sighed heavily and rubbed her head. “ That man has got to be the most immature person on the planet.”
“ Don’t worry mom, he’ll grow out of it…once he’s 100 years old.” Laura smiled. Anna chuckled and opened the door.
“ See you in a few days.”
“ Bye.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“ Laura, are you sure you’re going to be okay alone?” Anna asked with concern as they entered the house.
“ Mom, I’m not alone…Mike’s here.” She replied blankly.
“ I thought you didn’t like being alone with him.”
“ I don’t, but I’ll be fine. Someone has to take care of him.” She smiled. Anna laughed and kissed her on the head.
“ I’ll be back before eleven…don’t forget to take your medication.”
“ I won’t.” Laura muttered as her mom walked towards the door.
“ Bye, love you.”
“ Bye mom.” She replied and closed the door.
Laura looked around the empty house and frowned. Where the hell is that man?
She suddenly heard a soft melody coming from upstairs, so she decided to follow the sound. Up the long staircase she went, slowly walking so that her abdomen didn’t rip apart. The sound was coming from Mike’s room. She raised a brow of interest and pressed her ear against the door, listening to the song. It had a nice melody, sort of sad.
Something about it made her shiver. Okay so, maybe he isn’t THAT bad of a singer.
She knocked on the door lightly and heard the music stop. “ Come in.” she heard him say softly.
Laura turned the knob and opened the door, walking in slowly. He stared at her in question, wondering what she was doing home so early. “ Weren’t you supposed to stay in the hospital until tomorrow?” he asked with confusion.
“ Yeah but the doctors said it would be best to continue my recovery in a comfortable area, such as home.”
Mike gave a small nod and placed the guitar on the bed. “ I didn’t know you played.” She muttered and crawled onto his bed, leaning down on the pillows.
Mike frowned and turned around to face her. “ What the hell did you think I did in the band?”
“ Stand there and look pretty for the cameras?” she answered with a smile.
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “ Yeah I’m sure…”
“ Hey you’d be surprised Mike. If Tiffany ever comes over, you’re going to have to hide in the linen closet.” She explained with warning.
“ She thinks I’m hot?” he asked.
“ No…she thinks you’re sexy…shh don’t tell her I said.”
Mike gave a small smile and raised a brow. “ Sexy…that’s a new one.” He laughed.
“ Yeah I really don’t know what she sees in you. I keep telling her you’re just a normal guy.”
“ Does she know you’re my daughter?” he asked.
“ Not yet…plus if she did I’d never hear the end of it. Do you know how many sleepovers she’d want to have with me…at this house?” she asked.
“ I’m guessing a lot.” He answered.
“ So…what were you working on?” she asked curiously, staring at the paper beside him.
“ New demo.” He replied.
“ Interesting…how much do you think Tiff will pay me if I leak this to her?” she asked.
Mike glared and snatched the paper away from her. “ Don’t you dare.” He warned.
“ Come on Mike…aren’t you curious to find out what a loyal fan like her would think?”
“ Absolutely not. If this leaks then I’m ruined.” He explained.
“ How?” she asked with confusion.
“ Chester and the rest of them would kick my ass…I wouldn’t be able to move for the rest of my life…but on the other hand I’d have a devout daughter to take care of my every need.” He smiled.
Laura stared at him and blinked slowly. “ Touché.”
Mike smiled evilly and folded the paper into his pocket. “ So, are you feeling better?”
“ Yeah kind of…my stomach sorta hurts.” She replied.
Mike nodded a little and looked around the room. “ So Mike…I didn’t know you could cry like that.” She smiled.
He frowned and turned his head slowly towards her. “ Y-you…you saw me crying?” he asked.
“ Yeah when you put me down on the ground…I didn’t know you liked me THAT much.” She explained and rested her head against his pillow. He gave an uneasy sigh and looked down.
“ Laura…that crash scared the shit out of me. Do you have any idea what I was feeling when you didn’t open your eyes?” he asked quietly.
“ Probably a lot more than I was feeling…I was like…numb everywhere…pardon the pun.” She muttered.
He smiled a little and nodded. “ Just don’t leave the house ever again and I’ll be fine.” He explained.
“ Wait, does this mean you love me?” she asked with interest.
Mike lowered his eyes and stood up quickly. “ Hey, I’m kind of hungry…see you in the kitchen?” he asked and disappeared.
Laura frowned and sat up. She quickly followed him down into the kitchen and glared. “ What the hell was that?” she demanded.
“ What the hell was what?”
“ You totally dismissed my question.” She answered and opened the fridge.
“ Which question was that?” he asked as he watched her open the milk carton.
“ I asked you if you loved me.” She replied and took a large swig of milk. Mike frowned and grabbed the carton out of her hands.
“ Don’t drink from the carton.”
“ You’re one to talk and you still haven’t answered my question.” She answered and furrowed her brow. He gave a small smile and sighed lightly. Before she knew it, he had her in a warm hug. Laura raised a brow of confusion and surprise.
He had never hugged her before which made her wonder why he was hugging her now. The thing about this hug was that it was so gentle…like he was trying not to hurt her bruised muscles. He pulled away from her slowly and gave her a warm smile.
“ Welcome back Laura.”
She watched as he walked over to the couch and sat down. Maybe he cared about her more than she thought. Laura frowned in thought. The funny thing was…she actually liked the hug. It made her feel warm and comfortable. She raised a brow and stared at Mike as he watched TV.
Okay…I can live with that hug…

~~OK...soooo when is he ever gonna tell her he loves her??? HMMMMM TIS GONNA BE SOON SO DON'T WORRY..BUT does she love him too?? oooo the plot thickens....anywhoosies, hope you enjoyed this chappie. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING PPLS!!...wow i laughed so hard when everyone was freaking out lol...u guyz are the awesomnessess!! Thanks :)~~
You're Here, And I'm Never Alone
~~WOOT I UPDATED!! Thanks to EVERYONE who has been reviewing..i know i have said this alot but i appreciate EVERY LAST WORD FROM EVERYONE OUT THERE!!!...u guyz ALWAYS make me smile...hope you enjoy this chappie!! Probably only one more to come after this...enjoy!!:)~~

Laura held her head tightly and winced. The pain in her head was getting stronger and stronger with each passing second. It was getting so bad she felt like she was going to cry. Mike frowned as he felt something grab the sleeve of his shirt.
“ Mike…” she cried with desperation.
He lowered his eyes with worry. “ Are you alright?” he asked.
She shook her head a little and closed her eyes tightly. “ I-It hurts…” she stammered.
“ Did you take your medication?” he asked.
“ N-no…not y-yet…”
“ Alright hold on, I’ll get it.” He stated quickly and walked into the kitchen.
Laura opened her eyes as an acute pain rippled through her skull. “ Mike…you ah…y-you might want to h-hurry before I pass out.” She warned through her teeth.
“ Okay, just a sec.” he replied and grabbed the bottle of pills from the cupboard. He shook two into his hand and grabbed a glass of water, walking it over to Laura. He sat down as she took the pills and water, swallowing them down quickly.
Mike put the glass down on the coffee table and watched her with concern. She looked like she was in so much pain.
“ Is it working yet?” he asked.
“ Does it look like its working?” she demanded.
Mike lowered his eyes a little. “ I-I’m sorry Mike…it just hurts so much.” She muttered with a small wince.
“ I understand.” He answered softly.
Tears began to roll down her cheeks and she closed her eyes. “ Make it stop.” She cried.
Mike gently placed his arm around her and she leaned into his chest, gripping his shirt tightly. “ It’s hurts.” She whimpered.
“ I know…its okay…the pain will stop soon.” He said softly.
Her body jolted with excruciating pain and she continued to sob and whimper. Mike stroked her cheek with his other hand and frowned with concern. He could feel her warm tears rolling down the back of his hand.
“ I-It won’t s-stop…” she sobbed.
“ Shh, it will.” He answered with reassurance. She closed her eyes tightly and listened to the beating of his steady heart. Soon the sound of his voice vibrated through his chest soothingly.
I waited for you today
But you didn't show
No no no
I needed You today
So where did You go?
You told me to call
Said You'd be there
And though I haven't seen You
Are You still there?

I cried out with no reply
And I can't feel You by my side
So I'll hold tight to what I know
You're here and I’m never alone

And though I cannot see You
And I can't explain why
Such a deep, deep reassurance
You've placed in my life

We cannot separate
'Cause You're part of me
And though You're invisible
I'll trust the unseen

Laura stopped sobbing and whimpering. She opened her eyes as the tears continued to trail down her cheeks. She sniffled a little and blinked the blurriness out of her eyes. Fatigue soon consumed her and she felt her eyes begin to become heavy.
She didn’t know if it was the medication or the song that was calming her but right now she didn’t care. The pain had stopped and she felt comfortable. Mike stroked her hair gently and dimmed the light from the lamp…after all, the light wasn’t exactly helping her any.
“ You alright?” he asked quietly.
“ Sleepy…” she muttered.
Mike looked down at her and watched her eyes close. She had stopped trembling for now. Right now all she really needed was someone warm to rest her head on. He listened to her breathing become shallow and slow, indicating that she was falling asleep.
These past few days hadn’t exactly been easy on either of them. The best thing to do now was just relax and try to forget about the crushed metal, burning flesh and rotten blood.
Mike leaned his head back against the top of the couch and gave a heavy sigh, closing his eyes. The important thing was, his daughter was here, alive and sleeping soundly. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anna crept into the silent house slowly and dropped her jacket quietly on the chair near the couch. She smiled down at the two people, snuggled up together, sleeping. Laura had her head pushed into his chest and was breathing heavily. Mike had his head leaned down near hers, breathing softly. Anna sat down on the armrest beside Mike and stroked his spiked hair.
His eyes soon fluttered open slowly and he awoke with a start. “ Shh, you were asleep.” She smiled.
Mike turned his head slowly and looked up at her smiling eyes. He then looked down at Laura, to make sure he hadn’t woken her. “ You two look pretty comfy.” She whispered.
Mike blinked slowly at the sleeping angel and nodded. “ Yeah…her medication put her to sleep…I must have dozed off a while after that.” He muttered quietly.
Laura gave a heavy sigh at the sound of his comforting voice and continued to sleep. “ I think she likes snuggling up to you and falling asleep.” Anna explained quietly with a chuckle.
Mike raised a brow and stared at Anna. “ Yeah when she’s not yelling or swearing at me, sure.”
“ She only does that so she doesn’t have to say she loves you.” Anna stated lightly.
“ News flash Anna, she doesn’t love me.”
“ Take a look at her right now and TELL me she doesn’t love you.” He looked down at the sleeping child and blinked slowly. She did look awfully comfortable.
“ She’s sleeping…that doesn’t mean she loves me.” He explained.
“ The fact that she’s sleeping with her head in your chest and her arms around you does. And besides, you saved her life. I think she’s very grateful for that. You were there when she was scared and bleeding and in pain. You didn’t want to leave her at the hospital. You were the first person she wanted to see when she woke up.”
Mike frowned slightly in thought. Anna had a very good point.
“ Have you told her you love her yet?” she asked suddenly.
Mike swallowed hard and sighed. “ No…not yet.”
“ You should tell her soon. She needs to know.” Anna muttered quietly.
“ Yeah…I will.” He whispered.
“ Good…I’m going to go get ready for bed…take her downstairs?” she asked. Mike nodded and she kissed him on the head. “ Night…oh and say good night to her for me.”
“ I will.” He replied quietly and watched her walk upstairs to her room. Mike sighed heavily and looked down at Laura. He didn’t want to wake her so gently and carefully he picked her up and brought her down to her room, resting her into her bed.
He sat down on the side of the bed and pulled her covers up to her neck. She looked so peaceful…he couldn’t help but smile. He stroked her cheek softly and sighed lightly. She was so precious and he couldn’t believe that he had lost her. A month ago, he would never have even wanted to be near her but now…now he never wanted to leave her side.
He leaned forward slowly and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. He then stroked the few stay hairs out of her face and smiled. “ I love you Laura…” he said quietly then stood up.
As he made his way to the stairs, a voice stopped him cold in his tracks.
“ Dad?”
He turned around slowly and stared down at the weary child.
“ I love you too…”
Mike’s heart jumped in his throat when he heard that. His cheeks reddened and he swallowed hard. For the first time in his life, he couldn’t respond. The words were stuck in his throat, unable to escape. He couldn’t stop staring into those soft brown eyes…a reflection of his own.
“ G-good night.” He stammered, half with shock and half with relief.
“ Night.” She smiled and rolled over, facing the other wall, slowly falling back asleep. Mike walked upstairs gradually and then closed her door behind him. He just couldn’t believe how important those three little words were to him, coming from her.
He treaded up the long staircase to his room and stopped in the hall, noticing Anna watching him from her doorway. “ You alright, you look a little pale.” She stated with concern.
He gave a heavy sigh as she walked towards him. “ I just um…when I was downstairs…uh…sh-she…”
Anna frowned a little and stared into his nervous brown eyes. Mike looked down and swallowed hard.
“ She said…dad I love you too…”
Anna’s eyes brightened with joy and surprise. “ Really?”
“ Yeah.” He answered with a crooked smile.
Anna hugged him tightly and chuckled. “ Aw, that’s so sweet!” she squealed. She pulled away from him and stared into his sparkling eyes. “ How are you feeling Mike?” she asked.
He sighed heavily and stared at her in thought, slowly nodding his head. “ Happy…relieved…”
“ Not scared or nervous?”
“ No…” he answered in realization.
Anna couldn’t keep her smile from surfacing. “ Ugh, this is so great. FINALLY!”
“ Yeah but now I’m kind of tired and I just want to go to bed.” He muttered. She nodded a little and kissed him.
“ Good night sweetie.” She smiled.
“ Night…oh and by the way…” he replied.
She stared at him with expectation, waiting for him to continue. “ I got something I kind of have to ask you tomorrow.”
She frowned a little and cocked her head with interest. “ Why not ask me now?”
“ You’ll see…good night.” He smiled and disappeared into his room. Anna raised a brow and walked into her room.
What the hell could he possibly want to ask me?

~~DUM DUM DUMMMMMMMMMMM....what does he wanna ask her?? Seems pretty obvious now huh??? AWWW THEY LOVE EACH OTHER, HOW CUTE...*cough*...anyways...one more chappie to come and then it's done!!! Oh but don't worry...i have plenty more fics stored up in this twisted mind of mine...THANKS FOR READING THIS FAR!!!..ONE MORE CHAPPIE TO COME!!~~

SONG: NEVER ALONE
ARTIST: BARLOWGIRL
You Are Mine Forever
~~ omg...*cries*...last chappie...the end of the end...*sniffs*..awww....THANKS FOR READING THIS FAR...ENJOY THIS CHAPPIE!!:)~~

Laura walked upstairs and treaded heavily into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. Mike leaned back against the counters and watched her carefully. Without a thought, she walked over to him and leaned her head into his chest. He frowned a little and looked down.
“ You alright?” he asked.
“ Everything hurts.” She groaned.
He chuckled a little and rubbed her back. “ Coffee?” he asked.
She looked to the side and frowned at the coffee cup. “ Gimme.” She muttered and took the cup.
Mike smiled as she walked towards the island, sitting down. He walked over to her and leaned on the island. “ Have you seen your mom this morning?” he asked.
Laura frowned at him and shook her head. “ I just woke up, does it look like I’ve seen her?”
“ Well excuse me for wondering.” He muttered.
“ How long have you been up?” she asked.
“ A few minutes…”
“ Mike, it’s noon.” She stated.
He raised his eyes and nodded. “ Yeah, I had a good sleep.”
“ Really…” she stated with disinterest and lowered her head painfully.
“ Where’s that smiling girl I used to know?” he asked.
Laura lowered her eyes and stared at the coffee in the cup. “ She disappeared the twisted metal and fire.”
Mike frowned a little and shook his head. “ I know there’s a smile in there somewhere.”
“ Not today.” She corrected quickly.
He chuckled lightly and smiled. “ Come on…I know you have it in you.”
“ Fuck off Mike.” She ordered.
“ Laura…I can see it coming.” He smiled.
“ No you can’t.” she answered.
He pressed his lips against her cheek softly and smiled. “ I love you…” he said quietly.
Laura blushed and lowered her eyes. “ Not going to work…”
“ Then why can I see a smile twitching ever so slowly out of the corner of your mouth?” he asked.
She lowered her head away from him and swallowed hard, feeling her lips twitching. “ Nothing there.” She muttered.
“ Here it comes.” He laughed.
Laura turned her head away from him and hid her smile. “ Bastard.” She muttered.
He wrapped his arms around her and continued to laugh. “ You just can’t help it can you?”
“ Well I would have been able to if you hadn’t of said that.” She muttered and pushed him away from her.
Mike smiled and walked around to the other side of the island. “ So…why do you need mom anyway?” she asked curiously.
“ I have to ask her something.”
“ Ask her what?”
“ None of your business.” He replied quickly.
Laura lowered her eyes and sat back in her chair. “ You look kind of jumpy for a guy who only wants to ask a question.” She explained.
“ Well it’s an important question.” He answered shakily.
She frowned and shook her head. “ This wouldn’t be one of those life changing questions would it?”
“ Uh…possibly.” He replied cautiously.
“ Mike…she’s going to say no.”
He frowned and stared at her with dark eyes. “ I beg your pardon? You don’t even know what I’m going to ask her.”
“ Mike…it’s kind of obvious.” She whispered.
“ Really…so what am I going to ask her?”
“ Sorry, it’s your business, not mine.” She smiled.
He frowned as she walked towards the front door. “ Where are you going?”
“ Tiffany’s coming over to drop off a CD I wanted while I was in the hospital…she should be here about…”
The door bell suddenly rang.
“ Now.” She added and opened the door a little, careful not to show Mike sitting in the kitchen.
“ Hey Laura, I have your CD.” Tiffany smiled.
Laura gave a small smile and grabbed it. “ Thanks, bye.”
“ Wait…aren’t you going to invite me in?” The blonde girl asked.
Laura blinked quickly and looked back to Mike. He gave a small smile and shook his head. “ Uh…my house is kind of in a little bit of a mess…I don’t think it would be such a good idea.” She explained cautiously.
“ Then we can go to your room.” She smiled.
Laura sighed heavily and stared down at the CD. “ Uh…-.”
“ –Hey, who’s you’re friend? Oh…you must be Tiffany, I’ve heard so much about you.” Mike interrupted and advanced near the door.
Laura rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. Great…here we go.
Tiffany stared at him and frowned. “ Wha-.”
“ –Hey, I’ve heard this CD before…wait, that’s a little screwed up because I haven’t actually HEARD it…I made it…brings back so many memories.” He smiled.
The blonde girl stared at him in disbelief and shock. Laura lowered her eyes and pulled Mike’s arm away from the door.
“ You should hear number eight, it’s my favorite. Man, I couldn’t even begin to tell you how long it took us to record this song. Chester just kept screwing up the bridge…man, we eventually got him to sing it in tune after about three days. It was quite fu-.” He stopped as Laura placed a hand over his mouth.
“ Dad…you talk too much.”
Tiffany’s eyes widened even more. He frowned and pulled her hand down from his mouth. “ I don’t talk, I rap…there’s a difference.” He corrected.
“ Could you please go away?” she demanded to him.
He stared into her dark eyes and laughed. “ I’ll remember this when you want to come backstage to see me.” He explained.
“ Never going to happen…goodbye.” She ordered.
“ Fine…nice meeting you Tiffany.” He smiled and gave a wink.
Laura kicked him in the shin and frowned. He glared with pain and backed away from the door. “ No more shopping for you.” He muttered and disappeared in the kitchen.
Tiffany stared at Laura speechlessly. “ But…he…you…uh…”
“ Look, I have to go, I’ll phone you later, kay?”
“ Yeah…sure…” she breathed and Laura closed the door. Mike laughed from the kitchen and she lowered her eyes. “ Yeah, great job there Mike. You scared the hell out of her.”
“ But it was so much fun.” He answered lightly.
She walked over to him and grumbled to herself. “ So, you really wanted that CD?” he asked.
“ Yeah, it helps me sleep.” She smiled.
He lowered his eyes and sighed heavily. The door suddenly opened and Mike almost leaped off of his seat. Anna frowned and walked into the kitchen, throwing her keys to the counter. She flipped through the mail and raised a brow.
“ Laura, is there a reason why Tiffany was stiffly walking away from the house looking like she had just seen a ghost?”
Laura laughed and shook her head. “ Linkin Park moment.”
“ Oh…” she muttered in response and stared at the mail. Laura grabbed the coffee and began drinking it again.
“ Anna?” Mike asked as he hopped out of his chair.
“ Yeah…could you hold on a minute?” she asked as she ripped open a bill. Mike grabbed the bill and took it away from her, throwing it onto the island. She frowned at him, wondering why he had done that. “ What?”
“ I have to ask you something.” He replied shakily.
“ Okay…could you make it quick? I have bills to pay.”
“ She’ll say no.” Laura muttered into her coffee.
Mike frowned and ignored her. “ Anna could you please worry about the Goddamn bills later?” he demanded. She stared at him with surprise and crossed her arms.
“ Okay…what the hell is so important that you have to swear at me for?” she asked.
“ Sorry…I’m just a little…nervous.” He answered.
“ Why?” she asked with a frown.
“ Well it’s kind of an important question.” He replied.
Anna stared at him and raised her eyes. “ Okay…you gonna ask or what?”
Mike sighed heavily and gathered his strength.
“ Will you marry me?”
Anna stared at him blankly and sighed lightly. “ Are you going to get lunch ready or what?” she asked casually.
He frowned and heard Laura snickering behind him. “ Excuse me?” he demanded.
“ Lunch…you know? We have to eat sometime today. I can’t be making it all the time.” She explained.
“ Did you even hear what I asked?” he demanded.
“ Mike…come on, you can’t get out of making lunch this time.” She explained and grabbed the bills.
Mike frowned and grabbed the bills out of her hand and replaced them with a diamond ring. “ Should I just get down on one knee or what?” he asked.
Anna stared down at the ring and frowned…then slowly looked back at him. “ Okay…what?” she asked with confusion.
“ You don’t honestly want me to ask again do you?”
“ Wait…you’re serious?” she demanded.
“ No I thought I’d be a really funny afternoon joke before I get lunch started.” He answered sarcastically with dark eyes.
Anna stared at him and blushed. Laura sipped her coffee and stared at them. “ Anna…could you please answer before I pass out?” Mike asked desperately.
She stared at him in thought and frowned.
“ Yes…”
Laura choked on her coffee and coughed violently. Mike smiled and slipped the ring onto her finger, giving her a kiss. Anna smiled and stared down at the ring…her eyes becoming wider.
“ Holy shit Mike, how much did this thing cost?”
“ Two million.”
“ TWO MILLION?” She demanded.
“ Hey, I bought the best FOR the best.” He smiled.
Anna frowned a little and shook her head. “ You wasted two million dollars on a ring.” She stated.
“ Anna I didn’t waste anything. It was worth it…you’re worth it.” He explained softly.
Laura hopped out of her chair and grabbed her mother’s hand, inspecting the sparkling diamond. “ Wow.”
“ Wow is right, Mike you didn’t have to get me a two million dollar ring.” Anna explained.
“ Well I was going to buy you a mansion but this seemed more your style.” He explained. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him.
“ I love it…I love you.”
“ Wait…does this mean I have to live with this buffoon for the rest of my God given life?” Laura demanded.
The two parents stared at her blankly. “ Until you move out sure.” Anna replied.
“ So…he’s permanently my dad.” Laura stated.
“ Yep.” He smiled.
Laura stared at him and frowned. “ So…we’re like…a family and shit?”
“ Well not exactly in those words but yes.” Anna smiled.
“ Laura, are you okay?” Mike asked.
She stared at him and blinked slowly. “ Just give me a minute…” He stared at her as a small smile twitched on her lips. “ Yay.” She said quietly.
Mike laughed and wrapped his arms around her. “ Now you’re stuck with me.”
“ I can live with that…as long as I get a car when I’m sixteen…a GOOD car.” She explained.
Mike rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. “ Fine.”
“ Really?” she asked with bright eyes.
“ No damn way.” He laughed and pulled away from her.
“ Oh what a nice father you are.” She muttered.
“ I have to go down to the studio for a while…be back soon.” He smiled and kissed Anna.
“ Have fun.” She laughed.
“ What if it’s under a million?” Laura asked as she followed him to the front door.
“ Nice try.” He replied and slipped on his jacket.
“ 500 000?” she asked.
“ Maybe.”
“ Really?” she asked hopefully.
Mike stared at her and frowned. “ Are you coming or something?” he asked.
“ If it means getting a car out of you, sure.” She answered.
Mike growled and opened the door. “ Just don’t touch the equipment…and I mean it this time.” He warned.
“ So can I get a car when I’m sixteen?” she asked.
Mike rolled his eyes and walked outside. Laura stared outside and frowned.
“ Dad?”
Anna chuckled as they both disappeared outside. This was definitely going to be a very interesting family. She walked towards the door and leaned on the frame. “ Mike.” She called.
“ Yeah.” He answered.
“ Don’t spoil her too much.” Mike gave a small smile and opened the truck door.
“ Don’t worry…it’s not like I’m coming home with a HUMMER or anything.”
“ Oh! Can I get a HUMMER?” Laura asked with excitement.
He frowned and turned his head towards her. “ Did you finish your homework?”
“ No.”
“ Then no HUMMER.” He answered.
“ You’re no fun.” She muttered and hopped inside the vehicle.
“ If I get you a flat screen TV for your room will you stop bugging me about a car?” he asked.
“ Yes.” She smiled.
“ Fine.” He sighed and entered the vehicle.
“ Mike, I said DON’T spoil her.” Anna stated with a frown.
“ Relax Anna, it’ll be small.” He laughed.
“ Hey!” Laura whined and smacked him on the shoulder. He laughed and started the engine, shaking his head.
“ Bring her home before nine…and WITHOUT an entire entertainment system please.” Anna explained.
Mike smiled and nodded. “ You got it.”
“ Bye.” She laughed and entered the house.
Laura turned to her father and smiled. “ I love you.”
He looked at her and pulled out of the driveway. “ You can cut the love act, the stereo comes with the TV.” He muttered.
She smiled while staring at him. “ Who said I wanted the stereo?”
He glanced at her with a sideways smile. Laura’s bright eyes shone into his.
“ Love you too.” He answered.


I've had enough of living life for only me
And reaching just for the things that keep destroying me
So sick of envying the lives of so many I see
Somehow believing that they have what I need

My God's enough for me
This world has nothing I need
In this whole life I've seen
My God's enough, enough for me
I can't explain why I suffer though I live for You
Those who deny You they have it better than I do
Cover my eyes now so that my heart can finally see
That in the end only You mean anything

Who have I in heaven but You
Nothing I desire but You
My heart may fail but not You
You are mine forever


{Song: Psalm 73 [My God's Enough]}
{Arstist: BarlowGirl}
~~OMG IT'S OVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR *cries* *sniff*....don't worry though, there will be plenty more fics to come from me soon!!...SOOO how did everyone like this fic??????????? THANK YOU TO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU WHO HAVE READ AND REVIWED...UR COMMENTS ALWAYS KEEP ME GOING AND THIS IS WHY I WRITE....i can't say enough thank yous....THANKYOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU *hugs for all*:)~~

Hard Times
~~WOOT NO MORE WRITERS BLOCK!!!!....k so this chappie is sorta crucial to the rest of the story. Hope you enjoy it!!:)~~

Mike looked up from the paper and his eyes softened as he watched Laura come upstairs from her room, her hair pulled tightly back in a ponytail. Her dark eyes searched the living room, then turned to the kitchen, watching Mike intently. “ Morning.” He said quietly.
She stared into his soft eyes, feeling that there was something strange about him…something new. “ Hey…mom leave for work already?” she asked.
He gave a small nod and turned around, opening the fridge. “ It kinda sucks how she has to work on a Saturday.” Laura muttered and sat down at the island.
Mike grabbed a glass from the cupboard and walked over to her with the milk carton and glass in his hand. “ Yeah well she says her job is pretty demanding.”
She watched as he poured the milk into the glass, sitting it down in front of her, then returning the milk into the fridge. “ So she says.” The girl answered and frowned at the glass of milk.
That was odd. He had never poured milk into a glass before…and had never given it to her. “ Mike…you just poured me a glass of milk.” She stated blankly.
He frowned and turned around from the fridge. “ What?”
“ You poured milk into a glass and gave it to me.” She said.
Mike stared at the glass of milk and blinked slowly. Why did I just do that?
“ Well you’re young, you need calcium.” He explained.
“ Okay…” she answered suspiciously.
“ Your mom talk to you about last night?” he asked to change the subject.
Laura raised a brow and sipped down the milk. “ Yeah she came into my room earlier this morning…she’s not angry, she’s just surprised and disappointed…she said if I was having so many problems then I should have come to her…then she mentioned you…”
“ What about me?” he asked with interest.
“ She said I could talk to you when I have problems.” She muttered.
His eyes softened once again. “ Well you can.”
“ I can?” she asked with surprise.
“ Sure, I don’t bite.” He grinned.
Laura sighed heavily and stood up, placing her glass in the already full sink. “ Well…I’ll think about it.” She replied and ran water into the dirty sink. Mike watched her actions, almost with admiration.
Why do I love her so much? When did this happen?
Laura poured dish soap into the sink and grabbed a scrubbing pad. She was so independent for her age…so mature. He would have never done the dishes willingly when he was her age. Then again, what teenager does? “ Your mom tell you to do these?” he asked.
She gave a small nod and sighed with irritation. “ Got to get done I guess.” She answered.
She was about to reach her hand into the murky, bubbly water when Mike stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. She raised a brow and stared into his dark eyes. He looked into the sink and reached in,pulling out a soaked butcher knife. She watched him intently as he placed it in the dry portion of the sink. He stared at the knife and shivered, remembering when she had cut herself on it.
“ Uh…y-your mom would freak if you cut yourself again.” He explained nervously.
What he was really trying to say was that HE would freak. Laura cocked her head and pulled a pot out of the sink, scrubbing it roughly. “ I bet she would.”
“ Yeah so uh…be careful.” He said quietly, staring at her.
She had never heard that tone from him before. He seemed so quiet, almost shy in a sense, like he was unsure of his own words. “ I will.” She answered with sincerity, then returned to the dishes.
Mike blinked slowly, feeling slightly relieved that the knife was out of her reach. This concern for her was driving him mad so he decided to take his mind off of it by watching some TV.
Laura frowned as she placed the wet pot on the counter, quickly dipping her hand back into the sink and scrubbing some forks. Why is she so concerned about me? Something about him has changed. It’s like he cares about me or something.
She suddenly sighed at her own stupidity and looked down. “ Fuck.” She stated in pain.
Mike turned around quickly…too quickly. His neck cracked but he barely noticed it. “ What? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” he asked as he hopped over to her quickly.
Laura pulled her hand out of the water and raised a brow at him. “ Yeah, I just scraped my finger on the chipped plate.”
“ But you’re okay right?” he asked quickly.
She could hear the worry in his voice and almost laughed. “ Mike, it’s not even bleeding.”
He looked down at her finger and his racing heart slowed. “ Well Jesus Christ child don’t swear like that unless it’s actually important, you almost gave me a heart attack.” He explained with a frown.
“ I did?” she asked curiously.
He swallowed hard, knowing that he was overreacting. Why the hell am I so damn worried? She’s fine.
“ Just…be careful.”
“ You already told me to be careful.” She answered.
“ Well be MORE careful.” He muttered and walked back to the couch, sitting down.
Laura stared at him with an arched brow. Why the sudden concern?
She dried her hands quickly and walked over to the couch, sitting down beside him. “ Okay Mike, what the hell is going on?” He turned his vision to her and furrowed his brow.
“ Excuse me?”
“ Why are you so concerned about me?”
“ I’m not allowed to be concerned about you?” he asked in a low tone.
Laura raised a brow. “ You WANT me be concerned about me?”
“ You’re my daughter.” He stated.
The young girl stared at him in silence for several minutes. “ Uh…okay…do you even know what you just said?” she demanded with confusion.
“ Yes…” he answered slowly.
“ Are you feeling okay?” she asked.
“ I-I’m fine…why, what’s wrong?” his dark eyes searched hers, trying to figure out what she was getting at.
“ You just called me your daughter.”
“ So?”
“ So it didn’t sound like a mistake this time.” She replied.
Mike’s eyes softened.
“ That’s because it wasn’t a mistake.”
“ But…but…but…I thought you hated me.” She breathed.
“ I don’t hate you.” He replied quietly.
“ You don’t? Okay, now I know you are sick or something…did mom drug you?” she asked.
He gave a small laugh and shook his head.
“ What?” she asked.
He stared at her with tender eyes and gave a small grin. “ Nothing…you’re cute.” He replied softly.
Laura almost jumped off the couch. What…the…hell.
“ C-cute?” she demanded.
“ Yeah the way you frown when you’re confused…it’s adorable.” He smiled.
“ Are you on fucking Prozac?” she demanded.
Mike have a light sigh and stared at her. “ No, why?”
“ Because you’re being…nice. What happened to that sarcastic, cruel, evil, mean, bastard?” she asked.
“ Well, he thinks you’re cute.”
Laura stared at him with wide eyes. “ Are you kidding me?”
“ No.” he replied.
“ Okay what did mom do to you?”
Mike chuckled and turned off the TV. Just then, the phone rang causing him to jump up from the couch, rushing towards the phone. “ Hello?” he asked casually. Laura stared at him, still in shock. “ Hey Chaz what’s up?”
“ Mike you got a sec?”
“ Yeah sure man.”
“ I have some news, you ready?”
His voice sounded excited. Mike raised a brow and stared at his curious daughter. “ Yeah just get to it.”
“ Okay, I got a phone call from Warner Brothers today. They said they have set up a new studio filled with state of the art equipment. They said they wanted us to use it…they even said they’d pay us 500 000 just to use the new editing program.”
Mike’s eyes brightened at the news. “ Really?”
“ Yeah, this is awesome! It’s just the kind of thing we need because we all know your editing program is the shits. This could make our record sound even better!”
Mike smiled and Laura raised a brow. “ Alright, so when do they need us in?” He heard a sigh from Chester.
“ Tomorrow. If we get out on the road early enough we can get there before six in the evening.”
Mike frowned a little at this information. “ Road? Where is this studio?”
“ Miami.”
Mike’s eyes lowered and he gave a small sigh of reluctance. Oh shit.
“ Chaz, that’s a two day drive.”
“ Not with the kind of escort we’re getting. Warner wants us there as fast as possible. They say their on a deadline…and you know that shit, if they are, we are.” He muttered back.
“ Alright so we’ll be back in California in a few days right?” Mike asked hopefully.
“ Nope, we gotta stay in Miami until the record comes out…red tape.”
“ How long?” Mike asked, fearing the worst.
“ Eleven months minimum.”
“ Eleven months?” he cried out.
Laura frowned slightly, hearing the nerves in his voice. “ Sorry Mike, boss’s orders…look I have to go, meet you out on the road tomorrow morning.”
He heard a click and slowly put down the phone. Laura stared at him with expectation, wondering why he looked so worried. “ Mike?” He raised his head and stared at her with dark eyes.
I can’t fucking believe this. I have to leave. Jesus Christ. “ Yeah.”
“ You okay?”
“ No.” he answered quickly and ran a hand through his black hair.
“ What’s wrong?” she asked with a frown.
He sighed uneasily and leaned his hands on the centre island. “ I have to leave…”
“ Leave where?”
“ Miami.”
She leaned on the back of the couch and lowered her eyes. “ Let me guess…eleven months.”
Mike nodded slowly and looked down. Shit I can’t believe this is happening. This is exactly why she hates me in the first place. She’s never going to have a stable family.
He felt so angry for having to leave her and Anna. This was just so screwed up. He finally has people he loves and he has to leave them. “ Well have fun in Florida.” Laura muttered and disappeared into her room.
Mike closed his eyes and lowered his head. He didn’t have a choice. He had to leave, or he’d be fired…he’d lose his band…they’d never forgive him for it. “ Fucking job.” He muttered furiously.
He heard the jingle of keys and Anna walked into the kitchen. She stopped, noticing Mike’s cold look. Last time she had seen his eyes so dark, it was because something terrible happened. “ Alright talk to me.” She said quickly, sensing his anger.
He stared at her with a glare and shook his head in disbelief. “ I have to fucking leave.”
Anna’s eyes widened at the information. “ What? Why?”
“ Warner Brothers wants me and the band in Miami for eleven months.” He explained shakily.
“ Your kidding.” She muttered breathlessly.
“ Fuck.” He growled in thought.
“ Mike, that’s like almost an entire year.” She warned.
“ I know…” he answered.
“ What about us? What about Laura?”
He stared at her uneasily as his jaw tightened. He wanted nothing more than to stay. “ I’m sorry Anna…I can’t stay.”
Her eyes became dark as she approached him closer. “ Mike this is going to kill her.”
“ Well she was right about one thing. I’m never going to be here long enough to be her father.” He explained quietly.
Anna fell silent and stared into his dark brown orbs. She could see his worry and anger. They both knew this was going to happen…it was inevitable. He was in a band, a popular band…one of the largest rock bands on the planet. This was bound to provide complications in their lives. Mike sighed heavily and shakily. He hated this feeling of anger and worry. He didn’t want to leave them…they were his family.
“ I’m sorry.” He whispered.
She gave a small nod and looked down. “ You should talk to her.”
“ I can’t.” he answered quietly.
She looked up and peered deeply into his eyes. “ It’ll be too hard in the future.” He added.
“ Can’t you just not go?”
“ I’ll lose my job.” He breathed.
“ Is your job worth sacrificing your family for?” she asked.
“ Anna you can’t ask me to do this. You know I can’t just leave my job. I have to do this…I don’t have any other choice.” He explained firmly.
Her eyes became sad with every thought of him not being there. “ I have to pack.” He sighed.
She watched as he reluctantly walked up the stairs. They were going to be alone…again. Without Mike…she knew she wouldn’t be able to cope. She also knew that Laura would be crushed. She needed a father, no matter how much she said she didn’t. She had only said that because she never knew what it meant to have a father. Now she does…they were becoming close. Now they were being ripped apart.

~~OH GOD NO....awwwwwww noooo he's leaving...*cries*....well read on to find out what happens when he leaves!! DOES HE COME BACK?? only i know...anywhoosies, please review, you know the drill, let me know what's goin through ur mind..lol..BIG THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ARE REVIEWING!! U GUYS ALWAYS MAKE ME SMILE!!! :)~~
Be Near Me
~~OOO...k, wrote this chappie oober fast. sorry if it sux...ENJOY!!:)~~
The early morning’s light had barely begun to rise above the horizon. The world outside was still a hazy blue. Mike slowly treaded down the staircase, gripping the suitcase tightly with one hand. His heart leapt with each step he took, finally reaching the bottom.
Anna crossed her arms and watched his dark figure place the suitcase by the door. He was really leaving. The thought that maybe he had thought about his decision last night…obviously he hadn’t. He was going to obey the record company…instead of his growing instinct to stay with his family. Mike’s eyes flashed as he noticed Laura watching TV silently in the living room.
He knew she was angry…maybe even a little sad. Yeah right, she doesn’t even like me. Why would this even matter to her? She doesn’t want a father. She even said herself that this would happen, that I would end up leaving.
Anna sighed heavily, following his gaze to the couch. She gave him a ‘go talk to her’ look. He lowered his eyes and slowly walked towards the young girl sitting on the couch. Anna decided to give them some space, so she disappeared upstairs to her room, already feeling the tears escaping her eyes.
Mike leaned over the back of the couch on his arms, watching her dark eyes staring at the screen before her. He hated this. He didn’t want to leave. Every time he thought about leaving, he felt sick to his stomach. “ Laura.” He said quietly with a soft tone.
Her eyes barely moved at the sound of his voice. It was clear that she had no intention of speaking with him. He looked down and furrowed his brow. He felt a sinking feeling in his heart.
“ I know you’re angry…you knew this would happen…I knew this would happen. But not talking to me isn’t going to help the situation.” He explained.
She remained silent, an emotionless expression was etched across her face. Mike swallowed hard, briefly deciding whether he should tell her he loved her or not. Maybe it was best not to…it would only make things more difficult for both of them.
“ Okay so I’m a shitty dad.” He muttered to her.
He noticed her hand shaking against the remote. He wondered if it was because she was extremely pissed or extremely upset. “ I don’t want to leave. I know you think I’m lying. Maybe you even think that your mom told me what to say to you. Well she didn’t. What I’m telling you is coming from me and only me. I want to stay more than anything. Just thinking about being out there on the road alone makes me dread each moment. I’m going to miss your swearing at me.” He explained softly.
He stared at the wall in front of him and sighed. “ I’m going to miss you.”
The only response was silence. She wasn’t going to speak to him. He looked at her soft face and frowned. “ I’m sorry.” He whispered.
Laura blinked slowly, taking in his words. She heard him lean up swiftly. Before she knew it, a breeze blew in from the front door…then shut. She turned her head slowly to the front hall and stared at the closed door.
~*~*~

Mike opened the back door of his Escalade and threw the suitcase onto the floor. He felt like his heart had fallen with it. He couldn’t stop this sickening feeling from rising throughout his body.
Quickly, he shut the door and turned around. He stopped cold, staring into dark orbs. Laura glared at him with shaking fists. He felt his face paling as he watched her jaw tighten with anger.
“ I hate you.”
Her words were cold and they smacked into him like freezing water. He could feel himself shaking. “ Get out of my life.” She hissed.
His eyes became sad as she walked quickly back into the house, hiding her tears. Mike leaned on the back of his truck and lowered his head. He felt like falling to the ground and crying.
Not only had he managed to ruin his life, but he ruined the life of two of the people he deeply cared for. They would never forgive him for this. Eleven months was too long. He knew he wouldn’t be able to bear it. Without another thought, he hopped into his vehicle and proceeded to the bus station where he would meet Chester.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The dark asphalt road stretched beneath them as they drove down the long highway. Semis and large trucks buzzed past the tour bus causing the windshield to hiss beneath the wind.
Chester stared at the road and frowned. Neither of them had said a word in six hours. Mike was resting his arm on the side panel of the door, staring out into space, trying not to think of the people he was leaving behind. Chester soon became restless and licked his lips.
“ Hey Mike, here’s a thought…how about we have a conversation.” He suggested.
The weary man turned his eyes towards his friend slowly, then looked back out the window. He didn’t feel like talking. “ Okay…I’ll start something off. Why aren’t you talking?” he asked.
Of course he didn’t respond. The older man sensed something wrong with Mike. Usually he was excited to be out on the road, going to new places. He just couldn’t figure out why he was acting so strangely.
“ Alright then…uh…” his voice slowly trailed off, knowing it was useless to force him to speak. When Mike was upset about something, you knew.
“ Mike, I know there’s something eating at you. It might make you feel better if you talk about it.”
Again, there was no response.
Chester sighed with frustration and glanced at the somber looking person sitting beside him.
“ If you don’t tell me what’s bothering you then I’m stopping this bus.” He warned.
Mike blinked slowly and ignored him. He kept picturing that look on Laura’s face when she came outside. Her voice sent shivers up his spine. She hated him. She didn’t want him in her life. The thought drove him mad.
I should have told her I loved her. It probably wouldn’t have made any difference but at leased she would have known. Now she thinks I’m leaving her because I’m too selfish to stay with my family. God I miss her.
He felt the bus jerk forward then jolt backwards. He blinked the thoughts of his daughter out of his mind and gave a deep frown. They had stopped on the side of the road, letting all the traffic pass them in a blurry stream of lights and wheels.
“ Mike, talk to me.” Chester stated softly with concern.
“ I don’t want to fucking talk to you.” He snapped.
“ Why?”
“ Leave it alone Chaz.” Mike warned.
Chester frowned. Being a persistent ass was one of his best qualities. “ No I’m not leaving it alone. My best friend is practically a sitting ghost and all I keep thinking about his how these eleven months are going to be if you keep being depressed.” He explained.
“ Chester I DO NOT want to discuss this.” Mike answered with anger so deep it made Chester shudder.
“ Just tell me what the hell is pissing you off and then I’ll leave it alone.”
“ You want to know what’s pissing me off? The fact that my fucking family is fucking six hours away and I won’t be able to fucking see them for fucking eleven months!” he yelled.
Chester raised his eyes at Mike’s language. He had never been so upset before. Mike ran a hand through his dark hair and lowered his sad eyes. “ And…they hate me for it. I just…I care about them so much…so much it physically hurts. I-I can’t stop thinking about them. They’re my life…and this job is taking them away from me.” He explained brokenly.
Chester could have sworn that he saw tears in his best friend’s eyes. “ But at the same time I don’t want to lose my job…I feel like a horrible person.” He muttered while trying so hard to keep it together.
“ You’re not a horrible person. You miss your family…you love your job. It’s a conflict for everyone but that doesn’t make you selfish.” Chester explained calmly, sensing his friend’s worries.
Mike stared at him with quivering lips. He didn’t want to cry but he could already feel the tears pushing their way through the ducts. “ I-I don’t want to leave them.” He stated quietly.
“ Then don’t.”
“ I have to. I can’t ruin the band…the guys will never forgive me for it.” His voice was audibly shaken.
“ Mike they’ll understand.”
Just then, Mike’s cell phone began ringing. God, not more work…I can’t take this.
He reluctantly gripped the cell phone and pressed it to his ear. “ Yeah.” He muttered.
“ Mike…I can’t…she’s…you need to…please…please…I’m scared…”
His eyes widened at Anna’s panicked voice full of hysterical sobs. “ Anna, what’s wrong? What is it?” he demanded, sitting up in his seat. Chester frowned at the panic in Mike’s voice.
“ Mike I can’t find…please don’t…she’s not…help…”
“ Anna calm down and talk.” Mike stated, trying not to raise his voice at the frightened woman.
“ I can’t…please come…she’s alone…Mike please.” She cried. Mike swallowed hard, feeling his shaking hands. He could feel nothing but fear. He had no idea what was going on or why Anna was so frightened.
“ Anna breathe…tell me what’s going on.” He ordered shakily.
“ Our baby…I can’t…please help Mike.” Her sobs were almost fitful screams for help.
His heart dropped and he looked out the window. Our baby. Laura…oh God.
He heard a click on the other end and he frowned. “ Anna? Anna! Chester, turn this goddamn bus around now!” he yelled.
With that, he started the engine and pressed on the gas as hard as he could, sensing his friend’s urgency. Mike looked down at his phone and tried to dial Anna’s number but failed. His batteries had died. “ Jesus fucking Christ!” he yelled, slamming his phone to the floor.
Chester sighed uneasily and handed him his cell phone. “ Here…just don’t smash it.” He stated quickly.
Mike grabbed it thankfully and dialed the number again. He pressed the phone to his ear and could feel his heart pounding against his chest. Something had happened to Laura. He had to find out now before he passed out from fear. It rang and rang and rang. He raised his eyes with worry.
“ Fuck she’s not answering…FUCKING HELL!” he shouted.
“ Mike calm down, I’m sure it’s not that bad. Anna overreacts about everything.” Chester stated, attempting to calm the panicking man.
“ No you don’t understand. Something has happened to Laura.” He explained breathlessly.
“ Your niece?” he asked with an arched brow.
“ Dammit she’s my daughter, drive faster!” he yelled.
Chester raised his eyes and glanced at him. “ Your what!”
“ I’m not explaining it.” He warned.
“ Mike, what the hell? When did she become your daughter?” he asked with confusion.
“ Well I guess…THE MINUTE SHE WAS FUCKING BORN!” he screamed.
“ Why didn’t you tell any of us?’
“ Because I didn’t know about her until a month ago now would you please stop asking dumbass questions and keep your eye on the road?” he demanded.
“ Wait…Anna’s her mom? Fuck Mike, I didn’t know you two were THAT close.”
Mike stared at him in disbelief. He couldn’t believe how insensitive he was being about the situation. “ Well my fist is about to get a lot closer to your face so would you please stop talking to me and drive?”
“ Would you like to drive?” he asked.
Mike furrowed his brow. “ Yes, please.”
“ Yeah right, like I’d let YOU behind the wheel of a 100 000 dollar bus in your condition.” He snorted back.
Mike glared and growled with frustration. “ Now is REALLY not the time to piss me off.”
“ You’re already pissed.”
“ No I’m scared, BIG DIFFERENCE.”
“ Well not much.” Chester muttered.
“ Goddammit what if she’s fucking bleeding all over the place?” he asked shakily.
Chester raised a brow. “ Mike, I’m sure she’s fine. She probably went to the mall or something.”
“ No, this is serious. Anna has never screamed like that. Shit, I’m terrified.” He stated while trying not to cry.
“ Mike…don’t worry…if she’s anything like you she’ll be strong enough to get through whatever the hell it is that happened.” Chester replied softly.
Mike closed his eyes, feeling the tears warming his lashes. “ Christ.”

~~...*snif*.........................*cough*..................*looks around*.............u know what that means...im not proud of this chappie...well if u enjoyed it, YAY!! *claps*...if not..VERY SORRY..anyways, what does he find when he returns home??? ooo the suspense..SORRY FOR THE CLIFFHANGER *ducks for flying tomatoes*..hehe...review please thankees :)~~
Even Though I'm The Sacrifice
~~WOOT FOR THIS CHAPPIE...kinda sad...if u don't like sad stuff...don't read...anyways...enjoy!!:)~~

They had made a brief stop at the bus station so Mike could grab his Escalade. He pressed down on the gas like mad and raced through meandering streets. His heart was pounding so heavily he thought it would burst out of his chest. He didn’t care if he was speeding.
He wasn’t even thinking about getting pulled over by patrol. What mattered right now was getting home and finding out what had happened to Laura and why Anna was so scared. He spotted the house in the distance and his dark eyes concentrated on it. Everything else became a blur.
Quickly, he turned the truck violently into the driveway and almost smacked into the garage. He hit the side door open and ran towards the front of the house. He pulled the knob instinctively knowing that it was unlocked and rushed into the house.
He stopped and looked around while feeling the sweat bead down his forehead. Anna was sitting on her knees on the floor sobbing into her hands. Mike bent down in front of her and frowned. “ Anna, what happened?” he demanded.
He noticed her shaking violently with her desperate cries. He grabbed her hands away from her face and glared. “ Anna, tell me!”
She instinctively wrapped her arms around him and cried into his shoulder. He lowered his eyes and sighed heavily. She wasn’t going to tell him in this condition, so he let her cry hysterically before asking anymore questions.
“ Shh Anna, calm down…I’m here.” He stated softly while trying to contain his panic.
She coughed through her sobs as he rubbed her back. “ Mike…” she coughed.
“ I’m here.” He replied.
He could fell her warm tears soaking his shirt. He wished she would just tell him. “ Anna, please tell me.” He pleaded quietly.
“ Mike I’m s-scared.” She cried.
“ I know, but you have to tell me what happened.” He replied.
She lifted her head from his shoulder and wiped her swollen red eyes. “ Its…it’s L-Laura.”
Mike nodded a little while trying not to burst out on her. DAMMIT JUST TELL ME.
“ Yeah I kind of figured…” he answered.
She lowered her head again and began to cry. Mike lowered his eyes and sighed heavily. “ Anna where is she?” he asked loudly.
“ I-I…don’t know.” She sobbed.
What that’s it? She ran away again? Mike raised his eyes a little as his heart slowed. “ Why didn’t you just tell me she ran away?” he asked softly.
Anna sniffled and wiped her hair from her eyes. “ S-she didn’t run away.”
What? Mike’s eyes darkened as he stared at her with confusion. “ I-I don’t…I don’t understand…”
“ She w-went out with s-some friends. T-they were in one of her friend’s van…s-she phoned me…” Anna choked on her tears and wiped her eyes before continuing. “ H-her voice was…she was scared. T-then…I heard s-screams.”
Mike’s eyes widened with horror.
“ There was a c-crash.” She finished with a sob.
“ Oh Jesus.” Mike breathed with fear.
“ I don’t know where they are.” She leaned her head back onto his shoulder and cried, gut wrenching sobs. “ I-I phoned the police but t-they c-couldn’t find t-them. M-Mike, she c-could be dead.”
He tried not to let his own tears fall but it was too hard. He felt the warm tear trail down his cheek as he thought about his daughter’s lifeless body on the side of the road somewhere. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “ Anna I’ll find her.”
He felt her give a small nod as he pulled away from her. “ I’ll find her.” He repeated and stood up. She pulled herself up and crossed her arms. “ Hurry Mike.” She pleaded.
He nodded quickly and stormed out of the house. He had looked everywhere for the van. He checked streets and alleyways as well as all sorts of backstreets. Something terrible pulled at his heart. He hadn’t checked the highway yet. He took a deep breath and continued his search, frightened at what he would find. Darkness etched the skies as he continued to drive.
He could feel tears skimming his cheeks as he searched the dark roads. I shouldn’t have left. It’s all my fault. She left with her friends because she was upset and she didn’t want to stay home.
He blinked the blurry tears out his eyes and concentrated on the road. He passed the sign that indicated HIGHWAY 2 NORTH. Damn teenagers and their fucking road trips. Why the hell did she have to go with them? Dammit if she’s dead I’m going to lose it.
The highway was so dark now that he couldn’t see a thing. He put on his high beams and squinted through the window. His hands shook against the steering wheel as he pressed down so hard his knuckles became white. Something caught his eyes.
He turned his head to see small pieces of metal reflecting off of his lights. Oh God no. He knew that they had to be around here somewhere. As he drove, the pieces of metal began to become bigger and bigger. He passed a wheel and a fender. Then he saw it. His fears intensified.
On the other side of the road…the wrong side of the road…laid a green van, tipped over on its side…smashed beyond recognition. He stopped the truck with a jolt and stared at the wreck. Half of a large Ford F350 was sticking out of the van. Mike stared at the scene, unable to move. His beams shone against the twisted metal. The highway was empty. No cars passed.
He felt his heart stop for several minutes as he just stared. He finally found the courage to step out of his truck. His legs felt shaky as he forced them to walk towards the wreck. Then he began to notice that small parts of the van had caught on fire.
The highway was eerily silent, aside from the crackling of metal and fire. The fender of the large truck smashed to the ground and caused Mike to jump with a start. He swallowed hard. He had never felt so scared in his entire life. As he neared the van, he noticed something black sticking out from under the truck. It was the driver.
Blood pooled around his body. There was nothing Mike could do for him…he was dead. The stench of death rained through his nose as he came closer to the burning van. Three more forms stretched out near the van. He stared down at the girls…they’re eyes were wide open.
Blood covered their broken bodies. Tears blinded him as he coughed through the stench of blood and burned flesh. This all seemed like some kind of horrible nightmare. His heart skipped a beat and he frowned. Laura wasn’t there with the girls. He turned his head frantically towards the van. If she wasn’t outside then she was…inside…the burning vehicle. Mike fell to his knees and stared through the shattered windshield.
It was so dark, he could barely see. God please let her still be alive. “ Laura?” he called loudly and coughed through the smoke.
A large boom rattled his ears and he tuned his head. A fireball rose through the air and disappeared. He could see the flames nearing the middle of the van. The gas tank…oh shit no. His eyes searched the inside of the van with panic. “ Laura!” he shouted.
The fire grew with each passing second. He could feel the heat against his neck. “ Jesus Christ.” He whimpered and wiped the fog away from the side window.
Then his heart jumped in his throat. “ Laura.” He muttered with horror.
The seat belt was suspending her in the air. He could see the blood trailing down her face, rolling towards the other side of her body creating horizontal lines across her neck and head.
“ Laura!” he yelled. Her eyes were closed and she didn’t move. She was unconscious from her head hitting the window. “ Dammit…” he cried out.
He had to get this window open…he had to get her out of there before the fire did it’s job. Quickly, he grabbed his cell phone and dialed 911 while staring at the cracked window. “ 911 what’s your emergency?”
“ There’s been a big crash on highway 2 north. Four people are dead and there’s one trapped inside the burning van.”
“ Is the person still alive?”
“ I don’t know…she’s still bleeding.” He replied with panic.
“ An emergency crew has been sent to your location. Please try to remain calm.” The woman stated.
“ Yeah right.” Mike muttered and dropped his cell phone to the ground. He pulled his leg back, then kicked the side window. It didn’t budge.
“ Jesus fucking Christ.” He muttered and kicked it again.
It cracked but didn’t break. “ FUCK YOU BREAK!” he screamed and kicked it again…hard. The window shattered around his leg and he dropped to his knees. The flames were becoming so large and so hot that he could feel the heat against the side of his face.
“ Laura…Goddammit.” He reached in and pressed his fingers against her neck, searching for a pulse. His eyes darkened as he found none.
“ Come on.” He growled and looked down at the seatbelt.
He pressed down on the small red button and tried desperately to unhook her. He put one arm around her and undid the seat belt. She fell into his arms and he gripped her tightly, pulling her out through the broken window. Blood soaked his shirt as he pressed her head into his chest, protecting her from the fire.
He coughed violently and put a hand over her cheek. He could feel the blood warming his hand. Fire quickly consumed the place where she had been sitting. His eyes soon widened in realization. The damn thing was going to explode. He gripped Laura tightly and quickly pulled her away from the metallic burning mess. He could hear cracks and pops as the fire roared. He rested her down against the cool grass, about 50 meters from the accident site.
A large boom echoed throughout the skies. The van and truck were engulfed in flames. He turned his attention to his daughter, feeling tears falling from his eyes. He stared into her blood soaked face and stroked her cheek gently.
“ Laura come on…be strong.” He stated shakily.
He grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly. “ Please…” he cried.
The light from the flames highlighted the blood on her pale face. “ Goddammit Laura, don’t do this to me.” He sobbed.
Her hand was limp against his as he trembled. “ Stop being stubborn.” He muttered sadly.
Suddenly, he felt something against his hand…a pressure that wasn’t there before. He looked down and lowered his eyes sadly. Her fingers squeezed around his hand weakly. “ Laura, stay with me.” He encouraged softly.
He saw her frown and wince with pain. Tears streamed down her cheeks, mixing with the blood. He wiped the blood away from her cheeks and breathed shakily. “ Come on…” Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she groaned with pain.
“ Laura…God…stay awake for me…please.” He begged.
She stared up at him with blurred vision. “ S-scared…” she managed to cough.
“ It’s okay…I’m here…don’t be scared.” He replied softly with a soothing voice.
“ M-Mike…” she breathed painfully.
“ Shh, I’m here.” He smiled weakly.
Her eyes slowly began to close again and he frowned. “ Laura…Laura…stay with me Laura…come on…” he stated breathlessly.
He knew she couldn’t hold on for much longer. “ Laura…” he whispered with a sob.
Her hand became limp again. “ Sweetie, open your eyes.” He begged.
When she didn’t respond, he began to cry. He lowered his head as the tears fell freely. “ I love you.” He sobbed.
Sirens echoed through the silent night. Mike closed his eyes…his heart dropped. He could no longer register anything around him. All he knew and felt was nothing. His world came crashing down around him. The sirens became louder and louder. He looked up and the dizzying array of lights. His blank, dark eyes stared at them hopelessly.
It was too late. He heard the squealing of brakes and people shouting. In his world, everything was silent. The people’s mouths were open, shouting…but he heard nothing. There was a sickening feeling deep within him. He didn’t want to leave the small child, but knew he had to.
Two paramedics raced towards him, staring down at the girl. “ Sir, you’re going to have to move away from her…she needs medical attention.” One of them warned gently.
Mike blinked slowly and looked down at the girl. Slowly, he moved away from her and let the paramedics do their job. He watched as they placed an oxygen mask around her nose and mouth. They pulled her onto a red stretcher and hauled her into the ambulance. Mike couldn’t stand…couldn’t do anything. His entire body was trembling. A police woman walked over to him and bent down beside him.
“ Sir…were you the one who called this in?” she asked quietly.
He gave a small nod and stared at the ground. His voice was lost with his daughter, now being pulled away to the hospital. The woman lowered her eyes with sympathy. “ Did you know the girl?” she asked.
Tears burned his eyes as he felt vomit twisting in his throat. He leaned forward and threw up violently. The officer put a hand on his shoulder and attempted to comfort him.
“ She’ll be taken care of…don’t worry…it’s alright.” She said softly.
He closed his eyes tightly as the vomit rolled from his mouth. Slowly, he stopped throwing up. He sat back and coughed heavily, wiping his mouth. He then began to sob uncontrollably. The officer lowered her eyes sadly. He was broken…deeply broken.

I follow all the rules
Well, at least I'm trying
Hoping when my days are through
You'll be pleased

I've lived the longest days
Thinking my heart was so bad
Too scared to look in your face
Oh, if only I had

And is it alright
If I stay here all night
By the shoreline

I cannot believe you are angry or unjust
You've done nothing but have compassion on us
So be near me when I've given up
Be near me

I'm just like everyone else
We are all hiding
Acting like I have a wealth
Of knowledge and peace

But all I've ever wanted
And what men have given their lives for
Is a God who understands my weaknesses
A God that I can love

I believe you are good and righteous
You've given me your reckless love
So be near, be near...

~~*CRIES*..awwwwwww....so, read on to find out what happens back at the hospital...*snif*...review please, thankees :(~~

This chapter has been brought to you by Be Near Me by Bethany Dillon, on repeat...haha..DOWNLOAD IT, IT'S GOOD!!

Sleepless Night
~~Okay, thought i'd speed things up and write another chapter quickly. This chappie is kinda short but also kinda cute if that's the kind of stuff u like...sooo....enjoy!!:)~~

The night was calm and quiet. Mike pressed his head deeper into his pillow and sighed with comfort. He loved silent nights such as this. Suddenly, he heard something creak in the room and he frowned.
“ Mike.”
He heard a faint whisper. He decided to ignore it and go back to sleep.
“ Mike.” The whisper was louder as it approached his bed.
Dammit, what the hell?
“ Mike.” Laura stated as she crawled on top of his bed, shaking his shoulder.
“ I’m ‘sleep.” He muttered into the pillow.
“ Mike wake up.” She ordered loudly with a soft tone.
He groaned with irritation and clutched his eyes tighter, praying she’d go away and let him sleep.
“ Mike come on…wake up.”
“ Piss off.” He moaned and pulled the blankets over his head.
Laura sighed with annoyance and pulled the blankets off of his head. “ Mike I can’t sleep.” She stated.
“ Well I can…go away.” He ordered wearily.
“ This is important.” She breathed.
He grabbed his pillow and curled it over his head. “ Leave me alone.” He grumbled.
The girl pulled his pillow off of his head and he opened his eyes with a glare. “ What the hell!” he moaned and grabbed his pillow back, placing it under his head.
“ Mike, I can’t SLEEP.”
“ Good for you.” He muttered and closed his eyes, rolling over.
She grabbed his shoulder and rolled him onto his back, staring down at him.
“ Fix this.” She ordered.
He growled with irritation at the loss of his beauty sleep. “ Can’t you just go watch some TV or something?”
“ That’s not why I can’t sleep.”
“ Then what is it?” he demanded.
She brought her legs up to her chest and leaned her chin on her knees. He sat up on his elbows and watched her eyes lower with sadness. “ I miss mom.”
“ Well then I’m sure she won’t mind a phone call from you at-.” He stopped and looked at the clock, giving a light moan. “ One Am.”
“ Don’t you even care?”
“ Not really.” He replied sleepily and yawned.
Laura frowned at him and watched his dark eyes through the moonlight. “ You know I need someone to talk to and there’s no one here.” She muttered weakly.
“ What do you need to talk to me for?” he demanded with confusion.
“ Because I’m lonely and restless and you’re the only one I have.” She answered quietly.
Mike felt a sudden ping in is heart, forcing him to sit up a little more. His brow furrowed with sympathy as he stared into her distant eyes. “ Alright fine…here I’ll take you back to your room.” He muttered and rolled out of bed.
“ And do what?” she asked as she followed him downstairs.
“ Get you to fall asleep.” He replied and walked her down into her room.
“ How are you going to do that?” she asked.
“ Well what does your mom do?” he asked as she crawled under her warm covers. She watched him as he sat down on her bed.
“ Well if you must know…she sings to me.”
“ She any good?” he asked with an arched brow.
“ Better than you.” She muttered.
Mike lowered his eyes and ran a hand through his ruffled hair. “ So what, you want me to sing to you?” he asked wearily.
Laura deepened her head into her pillow and shrugged. “ I don’t know…you’re the musician.”
“ Fine, close your eyes.” He ordered.
“ Mike, if you don’t want to then you don’t have to.”
“ Well thanks to you now I can’t sleep. Besides, it might do my voice some good to get some exercise.” He muttered.
Laura sighed a little and closed her eyes. “ Alright Mike, put me to sleep.” She stated lightly. He gave a weak smile, trying to think of a song that could possibly put anyone to sleep. Ah perfect…
This is my December
This is my time of the year
This is my December
This is all so clear

This is my December
These are my snow covered halls
This is my December
This is me alone

And I
(Just wish that I didn’t feel like there was something I missed)
And I
(Take back all the things I said to make you feel like that)
And I
(Just wish that I didn’t feel like there was something I missed)
And I
(Take back all the things that I said to you)

And I
Give it all away
Just to have somewhere to go to
Give it all away
To have someone to come home to

This is my December
These are my snow covered trees
This is me pretending
This is all I need

And I
(Just wish that I didn’t feel like there was something I missed)
And I
(Take back all the things I said to make you feel like that)
And I
(Just wish that I didn’t feel like there was something I missed)
And I
(Take back all the things that I said to you)

And I give it all away
Just to have somewhere to go to
Give it all away
To have someone to come home to…

He stopped as he heard her breathing slow and become shallow. She looked extremely comfortable, wrapped up in her blankets with her head buried into her pillow. He then heard a slight moan and she swallowed hard.
“ Why’d you stop?” she muttered.
“ I thought you were asleep.” He answered with confusion.
“ Well I was almost there until you stopped.” She replied with her eyes still closed. He chuckled a little and lowered his eyes.
“ Don’t tell me you actually like that song.”
She sighed heavily before replying. “ Well…I have to say…I might just buy your album.”
“ Really.” He smiled.
“ Yeah…see, the next time I can’t sleep, I can just pop that CD into my CD player and listen to that song.”
“ You serious?” he asked.
She nodded sleepily and yawned. “ Yeah, you’re voice is actually kind of soothing.”
Mike’s eyes softened as he watched her become extremely sleepy. “ Want me to continue?” he asked quietly.
“ Please.” She muttered into her pillow.
This is my December
This is my time of the year
This is my December
This is all so clear

Give it all away
Just to have somewhere to go to
Give it all away
To have someone to come home to

Give it all away
Just to have somewhere to go to
Give it all away
To have someone to come home to…

He stopped and smiled weakly at the sleeping child. A look a peace was placed upon her face as she slept comfortably. Mike stroked her cheek gently and marveled at her angelic visage. She gave a large sigh and gripped her pillow weakly.

Okay, it is definitely getting harder to hate her. God, she’s just so peaceful.

He thought about what Anna had asked him, about how he felt when he watched her sleep. He finally knew a comprehensive answer.
I feel…complete.
That thought coursed through him. He never thought he’d feel this way. He didn’t know if this was love…but he knew he cared about her. It was strange, feeling this in a short matter of time. Perhaps their bond was growing stronger. As he stared down at this sleeping child, he suddenly felt a sense of calm. He gave a small smile as he watched her breathe deeply.
She’s my daughter…

{Song: My December}
{Artist: The evergreat and mighty Linkin Park}

~~KK..kinda quick and painless right??? OOOO Mike is starting to care about her..aww..kinda predictable...BUT what happens when Anna comes home???? I assure you, more drama and crying...stuff...to come...please review and tell me what u thought THANKEES!!:)~~
Urgent Eyes
~~Yay, sorry for taking so long to update but i had school and couldn't get onto the site cuz i had to write a french essay over the computer. Anyways, enjoy!!:)~~

The next few days were peaceful between the two. They would fight the odd time over something completely stupid say, the last pop or who got the remote, very trivial things. Evening fell upon the city and things were beginning to quiet down. Anna opened the door quietly, placing her suit case on the floor and kicked off her shoes.
She was home…finally. She gave a small breath of relief and entered the living room, smiling. The TV was on minimal volume, barely audible. The sight before her was the most precious thing she had ever seen. Laura had her head on Mike’s chest, sleeping comfortably with his arm wrapped around her. He stared at the television sleepily and blinked quickly as Anna sat down on the other couch with a smile.
“ Hey, you’re back…I didn’t hear you come in.” he muttered wearily.
She stared at him fondly and gave a small chuckle. “ It’s good to be home.” She replied quietly.
“ Yeah thank GOD you’re home. Now I can finally relax.” He sighed.
“ You look pretty relaxed already.” She stated while glancing at her daughter.
He looked down at Laura and gave a small smile. “ Yeah, we’re just hanging out, you know.” He replied.
Anna shook her head with a laugh and leaned on the armrest. “ So I see that things weren’t so bad after all.”
“ Well, I wouldn’t say bad…just…difficult.” He answered.
He suddenly felt Laura moving slightly, giving a long stretch and a yawn. Her eyes fluttered open slowly and she turned her head to see her mother sitting there. “ Hey mom.” She greeted wearily.
“ Hey baby, how are you?” she asked.
“ I’m good.” She sighed.
“ I can see that.” Anna chuckled.
“ Well I think it’s time for this little monster to get to bed, right?” Mike asked as he peered down at the girl.
“ Five more minutes.” She muttered and buried her head into his warm chest. He laughed and sat up, causing her to roll onto the back of the couch. She frowned and opened her eyes. “ Bastard.” She muttered.
Mike frowned and rubbed her hair with his hand roughly. “ Ow.” She whispered.
“ Bed.” He ordered.
She gave him a dirty look and stood up rubbing her eyes. “ Good night mom.” She said lightly and hugged her tightly.
“ Night baby.” Anna smiled and kissed her on the cheek.
Laura continued to rub her eyes as she walked past Mike. “ Night Mike.” She muttered.
“ Night.” He answered quietly and she disappeared into her room. Anna flopped down beside him on the couch and immediately pulled him into a long and slow kiss. After a few moments, she pulled away from him and smiled at his surprised look.
“ Wow, okay…hi…” he breathed.
She laughed and grabbed his hand. “ I told you we’d finish this kiss when I got back.”
“ And that we did.” He smiled.
She peered into his deep chocolate eyes tenderly. “ So, what exactly happened between you two while I was gone?”
Mike sighed heavily and raised his eyes in thought. “ You know…it’s more like a father daughter thing…you wouldn’t understand.” He muttered and stood up.
Anna frowned as he walked towards the stairs. “ So what, you care about her now?” she asked with confusion.
He looked back at her and frowned. “ Did I say that? No.”
“ But-.”
“ –Anna, we’ll talk about this later. Right now I’m tired and I want to go to bed.” He groaned and disappeared upstairs. She lowered her eyes and stared around the empty room.
That bastard, he cares about her…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anna tripped yet again on Laura’s backpack. She grumbled to herself and picked up the bag, rubbing her bruised shin. How many books was that kid stacking?
Mike laughed from the kitchen and she stared at him. “ Ha-ha you hit the bag!” he sang.
Anna glared at him. “ Seriously Mike, you’re thirty going on seven.” She muttered.
Laura came upstairs and cringed, waiting for the yelling to start. “ Oops.” She muttered, seeing her mother rubbing her leg in pain.
“ Yeah oops is right, what the hell is the matter with you? I told you to put your bag downstairs when you come home from school.” She explained sternly.
“ Well I forgot.” She whined and walked into the kitchen.
Anna growled and rolled her eyes. “ Yeah well how about next time I ‘forget’ to make you dinner.”
“ Sounds like a plan. Mike, what are you making?” Laura asked with a smile.
He frowned at her and shook his head. “ You need to learn to cook your own food kid.”
Anna stared down at the bag as something caught her eye. Out of the corner of the zipper was a small baggie filled with a green almost tobacco like substance. She bent down and pulled it out of the bag, examining it while listening to the two ‘children’ speak to each other in the kitchen about food and growing up.
Anna sniffed the corner of the bag and her suspicions were confirmed. She slowly walked into the kitchen and glared at her daughter. “ Laura, I found this in your bag.” The girl turned around and stared at the bag, inspecting it’s contents.
“ You found that in my bag?”
“ Yes…you mind telling me what the hell it is?” she demanded.
Mike looked up from his soup and frowned. “ I don’t know what that is. Looks like oregano.” She answered lightly.
Anna tossed the baggie onto the island and crossed her arms. “ Well it’s not oregano Laura, but I’ll give you one guess as to what it is.”
The girl stared into her mother’s angry eyes with confusion. “ Mom, I don’t know what that is.”
“ Is fucking weed!” she shouted, causing her to jump with a start.
Mike lowered his eyes and leaned on the island, staring at the baggie. Laura stared at her mother silently in shock. Anna shook her head in disbelief. “ I can’t believe this. My own daughter doping up.”
“ Mom that’s not mine! I’ve never even seen it before!” she shouted back.
“ Famous last words Laura.”
“ I’m telling you the truth!”
“ Bullshit, I know what kind of friends you hang out with.”
Laura’s eyes darkened. “ Yeah exactly. What makes you think they didn’t put that in my bag to frame me?” she asked.
“ Framed, that’s a good one Laura.”
“ I’m not lying.” She growled.
“ Too bad I don’t believe you. You know what, all your stuff is gone. The TV, the stereo, your new clothes, your music, EVERYTHING.” Anna breathed angrily.
“ Mom I’m not smoking weed!” she yelled, feeling tears forming in her eyes. Anna stared at her daughter silently with a ferocious glare. Laura looked at Mike with pleading eyes. He sighed uneasily and his jaw tightened. He didn’t know what to make of this.
“ Great…everyone’s against me.” She muttered shakily.
“ Go to your room.” Anna ordered coldly.
Laura glared at her for a long moment then stormed out of the kitchen, slamming her door. Anna looked at Mike and rubbed her hair out of her face. “ Well gee, you seem pretty quiet for someone who just found out their daughter is a drug user.”
Mike’s eyes darkened at her words. “ Anna, it is possible that she didn’t do this.” He answered quietly.
“ Are you fucking kidding me? How the hell does something like this just magically appear in her bag without her noticing it?”
“ Well she goes to a big school. It’s easy to just lay down your bag for a second and have someone drop something into it.” He explained.
“ I can’t believe you believe her!” she yelled.
Mike sighed shakily and shook his head. “ I’m just thinking about the facts. I’ve never been one to jump to conclusions.” He answered.
“ Mike, she’s smoking pot-.”
“ –Have you seen her smoke pot? Have you smelled any of it on her or in her room?” he asked.
“ That’s not the point and it’s easy to get rid of that smell with a little body spray.”
“ Anna I’m telling you that maybe this doesn’t belong to her.”
“ Oh so what, she’s holding it for a friend? That’s the oldest excuse in the book.” She snarled.
“ And what if one of her friends framed her? How are you going to feel knowing that you accused her of something she never did?” he demanded.
“ Michael, she’s smoking this shit. I can see it in her eyes. I know when she’s lying to me.”
Mike ran a hand through his hair nervously. “ Well then we are seeing two different things.” He replied.
“ So you think that just because you spent seven days with her, you know her? You don’t know shit Mike.” She snapped.
“ Well at leased I have enough sense to consider all the options.” He replied angrily.
“ Mike she’s playing you.”
“ Don’t you think I know when she’s lying? Don’t you think I know that poker face? I invented that look Anna and I am telling you that there is a possibility that she is telling the truth!”
“ Fuck you Mike, you don’t know dick!”
“ I know a lot more than you!” he yelled.
Anna closed her mouth and stared at him with silent shock. She couldn’t believe he had just said that. “ Really.” She breathed quietly.
He stared at her sheepishly. Anna looked around the room and gave a crooked smile. “ Well, I guess since I’ve only been her mother for thirteen years we should just disregard everything I’m saying right? But you know, father knows best.” She muttered.
“ Anna, I didn’t mean-.”
“ –Get out of my sight.” She ordered calmly.
He lowered his head and swallowed hard. “ Fine.” He answered quietly and disappeared upstairs. Anna sighed uneasily and stared down at the floor. The evening was just about to get more complicated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thunder rolled in the distance and echoed over top the dark clouds. The rain pinged against the roof of the house but became slightly muffled through the growing wind. Mike frowned in his sleep, still thinking about what had happened earlier that afternoon.
Something inside of him told him that she wasn’t on drugs, that all of this wasn’t her fault. Except the problem with that was he knew that there was an even higher possibility that she was on drugs. After all, she took after her father. Something light shook his shoulder, forcing him out of unconsciousness.
“ Mike, wake up.” He heard the voice say, almost with urgency. He groaned sleepily and pushed his head deeper into the pillow.
What the hell is it with this family? Can’t anyone let a guy sleep?
“ Mike, you have to get up NOW.” It was Anna…and she didn’t sound calm. He sat up slowly and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
“ W-what?” he whispered weakly.
“ She’s gone.”
Mike frowned and blinked quickly, staring at the dark from beside him. He could barely register what she was saying because he was still half asleep. “ She’s what?” he asked wearily.
“ Gone.” Anna stated with panic.
“ Gone where?” he asked, still obvious that he wasn’t fully awake.
Anna grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him towards herself quickly, staring into his dark eyes. “ I DON’T KNOW, THAT’S THE PROBLEM.” She stated loudly through her teeth.
He raised his eyes in realization as she let him go. “ O-okay…you’re freaking out, aren’t you?” he asked.
“ Well my daughter is missing and my dumbass boyfriend doesn’t think there’s a problem with it so yeah, I’m freaking out!’ she yelled.
“ Anna calm down.” He stated slowly.
“ I CAN’T FUCKING CALM DOWN!” she screamed.
Mike sighed uneasily and slid out of bed. Anna followed him quickly down the stairs and stopped in the living room.
“ Mike this can’t be good…I mean she’s angry with me and she left and it’s raining and there’s a storm and she could be lost or injured or kidnapped-.” She stopped suddenly as Mike grabbed her hands.
He peered into her teary eyes and frowned. “ Anna, its okay…she’s okay…she’s just a little pissed. She’ll be back.” He explained calmly.
Anna shook her head and began to sob into his chest. “ Our baby’s out there all by herself.” She wept.
She kept repeating that same sentence through her cries and Mike lowered his eyes with worry. Our baby.
Every time she said that, he felt his heart jump with anxiety, not because he was afraid of the concept of her being his child but because he was worried…damn worried.
“ Anna don’t worry, I’ll find her.” Mike stated breathlessly.
She looked up at him and sniffed back her tears. “ I’ll find her.” He whispered again.
Anna nodded and lowered her head as Mike rushed to put on his jacket. “ Stay here in case she comes back.” He ordered.
Anna wiped her tears as he opened the door, feeling the rain hitting the back of his neck. “ Anna…I’m not coming home without her.” She saw the urgency in his eyes and almost began to sob again.
He left the house rapidly, disappearing into the rain. She heard the engine of his Escalade start up and soon he was gone down the street, his wheels screeching against the soaked asphalt.
“ Find her.” She whispered.

~~SOOOO does he find her??? If he does, is she hurt? Dead? Pregnant? lol...read on to find out more..heeheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..THANKEES AND REVIEW!!:)~~
Rainy Truth
~~OKAY...man, the reason why it's taking me for flippin ever to update is cuz now i have no idea where this fic is going so bear with me...anywayz, enjoy the chapter:)~~

Three minutes turned into four, into seven, into thirty, into sixty. For an hour, he had been searching for her everywhere. She must have been absolutely drenched in this weather. Mike squinted out the window, thinking he had just seen something move.
Slowly, he stopped the truck and peered into the dark and gloomy park near the school. Sitting on the park bench, head down was none other than Laura looking awfully soaked and miserable. Tears streaked down her cheeks as she stared at the grass below her. Mike’s eyes softened, knowing she was probably extremely upset. Slowly, he exited the vehicle and shivered under the cold rain. He made his way through the soaked grass and stuffed his hands in is pockets. Laura sniffed and blinked long strands of tears down her cheeks, not even noticing the approaching shadow.
Mike stopped and stared down at the child. Water dripped off of his black spikes and landed onto the bench beside her. “ Laura.” He said softly.
She glanced at him briefly before turning back to the wet blades of grass. He sighed softly when she didn’t respond. “ Mind if I sit down?” he asked.
“ Yes.”
“ Too bad.” He muttered and flopped down beside her, causing the bench to shake.
Laura glared and kept her vision on the ground. She had no intention of talking to him, of course she couldn’t stop him from talking to her. “ You want to tell me what’s going on?” he asked.
The young girl blinked with surprise at his gentle voice. It was like he actually cared. Still, she couldn’t find the courage to speak to him. Instead, she just shook her head, watching the water spiral down from her dark hair. Mike lowered his eyes and leaned forward.
“ I remember when I ran away from home. I was twelve.”
Laura furrowed her brow at his statement. What, is he trying to make me feel better? It’s not going to help. I feel like shit. Mom hates me, he probably hates me. Everyone thinks I’m some kind of drug addict.
Mike stared down at the ground and raised a brow. “ It’s a lonely place out here…especially when you feel like shit.” He explained softly.
So what? I want to be alone.
“ Look I know you hate me and you don’t want to talk to me and I’m no expert with type of thing but maybe talking about it will set some peace in this situation.” He explained quietly.
Laura sighed uneasily knowing that the truth wasn’t going to help at all…it might even make it worse. He sensed her uneasiness and lowered his eyes. “ Just tell me the truth.” He stated.
She shook her head in response. Telling him would solve nothing. It would just make a lot of people angry. “ Come on Laura, it’s the only way this night is going to end.” He offered gently.
Mike sensed something hidden within her, something she didn’t want to tell him. It was like he just suddenly knew she didn’t want anyone knowing the truth…whatever the truth may be. “ Talk to me Laura…I’ll hear you out. No one needs to know anything about tonight. It’s just you and me. I won’t tell your mom if you don’t want me to.” He explained.
The young girl sighed shakily and closed her eyes, bracing herself for her own weak voice. “ It’s my weed.” She stated with heavy guilt.
Mike’s jaw tightened as her words soaked through his mind. Laura raised her head and stared out into the dangling trees. She knew he’d be pissed. She knew he’d probably start yelling or lecturing her about the stupidity of drug usage. She could already hear his angry voice in the back of her mind…feel his intense gaze upon her. “ So you lied.” He muttered quietly.
Great, silent anger…he’s REALLY pissed.
“ About having the weed, yeah…but I never smoked it…and that’s the truth.” She explained uneasily.
Mike looked down and shook his head. “ Why?” he asked simply.
Laura sighed heavily and tried to contain the rest of her tears. “ I don’t know…I guess I was just tired of being a nobody, a shadow in the corner, someone to borrow money off of.”
Mike listened intently to her broken words.
“ Throughout my entire life I’ve been stepped on, pushed down and bullied. I try to brush it off but it still happens over and over and over again. I’m sick of this torture. So…I did what my dumbass teenage mind told me…all your friends are doing it, so should you. I’ve never really been able to surmount peer pressure. Having those drugs was the stupidest thing I have ever done and I know that. But see now it’s causing even more problems and…” her voice faded as the tears began to flow down her rosy cheeks.
“ N-now everyone is mad at me…a-and I can’t go home b-because mom thinks I’m s-some kind of drug addict and you don’t trust me and…m-my life is just screwed up.” She sniffed.
Mike sighed heavily and stared at her with dark eyes. “ I-I’m sorry.” She cried weakly.
He stared at her shaking form as she wept into her hands. She suddenly felt warmth around her, slowly realizing that Mike had wrapped his jacket around her. “ I n-never smoked.” She sobbed.
“ I believe you.” He replied softly.
Laura leaned back and he wrapped his arms around her. She sobbed quietly into his chest, soaking his already damp shirt. He let her cry for a few more minutes before she finally stopped and sniffed away her tears.
“ Y-you’re going to tell mom, aren’t you?” she asked miserably.
Mike stroked her wet hair and sighed. “ I think you should tell her.”
“ But…she’ll yell…and probably disown me…then I’ll have to live with you.” She muttered sadly, while wiping away her tears.
Mike gave a crooked smile. “ Do you really want me to tell her?”
“Yes.” She answered quickly.
“ Well I’ll see what I can do.” He replied.
Laura sniffed and lifted her head. “ Are you pissed?” she asked.
Mike raised a brow and looked around. “ Do I look pissed?” he asked.
“ I don’t know. You sound kinda pissed.”
“ I’m not pissed…I’m just disappointed. I never thought you’d get yourself into that shit. You’re a smart person Laura, you don’t need to do everything your friends do.” He explained.
She gave a light snort and shook her head. “ Yeah what friends?”
“ I’m sure you have at leased on friend who isn’t on drugs.” He stated.
She stared at him with thought and lowered her eyes. “ Well…there’s Tiffany…she’s super obsessed with your damn band…I guess she’s normal…aside from the obsession.” She muttered.
Mike chuckled and nodded. “ See? You do have friends.”
“ Yeah I guess.” She muttered and looked down.
“ Come on, it’s getting cold…you should be in bed not sitting in a rainy park.” He explained and pulled her up. She walked with him back to the truck and entered the warm vehicle. Mike hopped in and started the engine, driving back to the house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“ Oh God Laura!” Anna exclaimed and grabbed her daughter, planting kisses on her cheeks and forehead. The girl frowned and cringed through all the kisses.
“ M-mom.” She breathed.
“ I thought I lost you. Jesus Christ, don’t ever do that again.” Anna stated and hugged her tightly.
“ Mom, I can’t breathe.” She muttered breathlessly.
“ Oh…s-sorry.” She replied apologetically, wiping the hair out of her daughter’s face.
Mike gave a small smile and pulled off his jacket, hanging it up. “ Can I go to bed now?” Laura asked wearily.
“ What, that’s it? Just go to bed without even so much as an explanation as to why you left in the first pla-.”
Mike stopped her and shook his head. Anna noticed the warning in his eyes and decided not to go any further. “ We’ll discuss it tomorrow.” She continued.
Laura nodded and rubbed her sleepy eyes. “ Sorry…for leaving like that…” she muttered.
“ It’s alright Laura…go to bed, you must be exhausted.” Anna replied calmly. The girl nodded and disappeared into her room. Mike approached Anna and sighed heavily.
“ Did she tell you the truth?” she asked.
Mike nodded. “ Yeah she did. It’s her weed.”
“ Wait, she lied? I thought you just said she told the truth!” she answered with confusion and slight anger.
Mike lowered his eyes and nodded. “ She DID tell the truth. She never smoked it.”
Anna stared into his calm dark eyes and sighed with relief. “ So…why did she leave?”
“ She was afraid you’d disown her and she’d have to live with me.” He grinned.
Anna raised a brow at his humor. “ I doubt she’d ever live with you.”
“ She’s living with me now.” He replied.
She furrowed her brow in thought. “ So…we were both right. She’s WAS lying and she WAS telling the truth.”
Mike nodded and ran a hand through his wet hair. “ This parenting shit is complicated. See this is why I never wanted a kid in the first place.” He explained.
Anna frowned with surprise at his words. Mike gave a small smile at her reaction. “ But seeing as though she’s a lot more mature than me…she can’t be considered a kid therefore I am okay with it.” He grinned again.
“ You mean you ca-.”
“ –Good night Anna.” He sighed and disappeared upstairs before she could finish her sentence.
Anna frowned at the stairs and rolled her eyes. He’s never going to admit it.
She stomped up the stairs and knocked on his door. Mike opened it and stared at her with expectation. “ May I help you?’ he asked innocently.
“ Admit it.”
“ Admit what?”
“ That you care about her.”
He rolled his eyes and gave a heavy sigh. “ Anna I’m TIRED. I’m not discussing this now.”
“ Too bad…now cough it up.” She muttered as her intense eyes bore into him. He stared at her for a long moment, thinking about his answer. “ Either that or you love her.” She added quickly.
“ HEY, no one said anything about love!” he stated loudly.
“ Come on Mike, she’s your daughter. You spent seven days with her. There has got to be some kind of bond between you two.” She explained.
“ And if there isn’t?”
“ I believe there is. Why else would she have come home with you?”
“ So she could hide behind me incase your fists start flying?” he answered.
“ Well Mike, then that just means she knows you can protect her.” Anna said with a small smile.
He lowered his eyes and looked around in thought. “ Okay, if I answer your damn question will you let me sleep?” he demanded wearily.
“ Of course.”
“ Fine.” He muttered.
They stared at each other for many minutes. Anna frowned as she stared deeply into his eyes. “ Now would be the time to answer.”
“ I love her, good night.” He answered quickly and closed his door in her face.
Anna stared at the wood in shock and surprise. She was expecting a sarcastic remark…but none came from his mouth. The only thing he confessed was the truth. “ Mike.” She called.
“ I’m sleeping.” He replied.
“ Mike, open the damn door.” She ordered in a low tone.
She heard him growl with frustration and the door slowly crept open. He stared into her gleaming eyes with embarrassment. “ I can’t believe you said you love her.” She breathed.
“ Yeah neither can I, good night.”
She pressed he foot into the door frame, stopping the door from closing. She stared at him with a small smile and shook her head. “ Wow.”
“ Wow what?” he asked with a frown.
“ I’ve never seen this side of you before.”
“ What, the side that doesn’t want to talk to you? You’ve seen it a million times.” He replied with annoyance.
“ No I meant the side that tells the truth about your feelings. I had no idea you love her.”
“ And I had no idea that you were this persistent about discussing it.” He snapped.
“ You gonna tell her?”
“ Hell no!” he frowned.
“ Why not?” she demanded.
“ Because she’d laugh in my face or…or…say something snotty or…uh…get pissed, hell I don’t know.” He replied shakily.
“ And what if she loves you too?”
“ That’s a pretty big if.” He answered quietly.
“ Not as big as you think.” Anna stated softly.
Mike sighed uneasily and stared into her eyes. He was scared and she knew that.
“ Mike you have to tell her.”
“ OR, you could tell her for me.” He smiled.
“ OR not.” She frowned.
“ Keeping secrets from your daughter, tsk tsk, what a horrible mother you are.” He muttered.
“ Yeah well you’re keeping one GIANT secret from YOUR daughter. If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were a terrible father.”
Mike frowned with surprise. He felt like he was being stabbed in the heart…for some…strange…reason.
“ Hurt’s doesn’t it?” she asked.
He sighed with frustration and leaned on the door. “ I’m going to bed.”
“ Are you going to tell her?” she demanded.
“ Nope.”
“ Michael.” She breathed in disbelief.
“ She doesn’t CARE Anna. She’s thirteen.”
“ She does care and I know it.”
“ Yeah and how do you know it?”
“ Instinct.” She replied quickly.
Mike rolled his eyes. “ There you go with that instinct shit again. Here’s a word of advice, Anna. It’s a lot less of a headache if you just ignore it.”
“ Is that why you’re ignoring it? Because you don’t want to deal with the fact that perhaps your daughter loves you?” she asked.
“ I don’t have this magic instinct you keep talking about.”
Anna crossed her arms and stared at him. “ I heard about what you did to her principal.”
“ What!” he shouted.
“ Yeah, the school phoned me while I was in New York. They said something about you punching the principal…”
Mike frowned at her in shock. “ T-that was in self-defense!”
“ Bullshit, you did it because he grabbed Laura. I spoke to her about it too. You can’t hide from this Mike. You have that instinct. You protected your daughter.” She explained slowly.
“ Fine okay, I admit it, I just suddenly got this urge to keep the bastard away from her. Happy?” he asked.
“ Very.” She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. He raised a brow as she stroked his hair out of his face.
“ Tell her Mike…she deserves to have a loving father, especially after all this time.” She stated softly.
He gave a heavy sigh and lowered his eyes. “ Alright, I’ll tell her.”
“ Promise?” she asked suspiciously.
“ I promise.” He answered quietly.
“ Good…now you can go to bed.” She smiled.
“ Thank you.” He breathed.
“ Good night Mikey.” She called as she entered her room. He frowned and stared down the hall.
“ Yeah…right…”

~~woot...*snif*...yep......*cough*....*looks around room*....sooo....i'm not particularity proud with this chapter...but if u like it then yay!...More to come if my brain starts working again haha...Thanks...oh and don't forget to review please :)~~

Difficulties
~~WOOT i updated fast haha...enjoy!!:)~~
4:35 am.

Mike glared and tapped his foot impatiently on the kitchen floor. He glanced at his watch and frowned. Okay…now it’s a little later than four…where the hell is she?
He stared around the dimly lit kitchen and sighed uneasily. He didn’t know if he was worried about the fact that Laura hadn’t come home yet or the fact that Anna was going to kick his ass. Just as he had pondered this, the front door swung open slowly and Laura stumbled into the front hall.
Mike lowered his eyes and walked over to her slowly. She squinted through the darkness and frowned. She leaned her hand against the wall and kicked off her shoes, almost falling over.
“ Do you know what time it is?” Mike demanded angrily.
“ Uh…n-no…I must have l-lost time of all t-track.” She muttered breathlessly.
Time of all track…that sounded comprehensive.
He watched as she stumbled into the kitchen and gripped the island for support. He followed closely behind, making sure she didn’t fall over.
“ Are you drunk?” he hissed in disbelief.
She turned her head to him and frowned. “ Exceeuse me? I baleeve that was uncalled for.”
“ How?” he asked.
She frowned with thought and looked down through her dizzying world. She gave a small smile and laughed. “ God I’m so wasted!”
“ Yeah no shit.” Mike answered as he watched her slide around the island.
“ What are you doing?” he asked with an arched brow.
“ I wanna um…uh…do we have any beer?”
Mike gave a small laugh and shook his head. “ Not tonight and not for you.” He replied.
He knew she was about to fall over so he walked over to her and grabbed her arm, holding her up. She pulled her arm away from him and pushed him. “ Get away from me bastard!’ she yelled.
He raised his eyes and stood back a little. “ Laura…I think you need some rest.”
“ I don’t need nothing. I’m p-perfectly fine.” She muttered with a heavy slur.
“ Yeah I can tell.” He answered sarcastically.
She continued to wobble around the kitchen for no particular reason. He followed her closely and she quickly dodged away from him with a laugh.
“ Too slow!” she shouted from the other side of the kitchen.
Mike sighed with irritation and rubbed his face. I can’t believe she’s fucking drunk.
“ Laura, time for bed.”
“ Time for nothing…what I n-need is a p-place to go and have a bed in w-warm blankets to see how far I can…uh…um…s-sleep.”
Mike frowned with confusion as a small smile twitched on his lips. “ Okay…”
“ So you don’t do nothing to tell me w-why I can and cannit doo.”
This was getting ridiculous. She didn’t even know what she was saying. He approached her slowly as she blinked with dizziness, falling to the floor. He sighed heavily and stared down at her. “ Whoa, are y-you okay?” she asked with concern.
He smiled and knelt down beside her. “ I’m fine…are you okay?” he asked.
“ I’m ding good.” She muttered.
“ Good...bed.” he ordered.
“ You just said g-good bed.” She laughed.
“ Yeah…okay…come on Laura, get up.” He encouraged softly.
The best way to handle this situation would be to do it patiently. Laura stared at him and smiled. “ You’re my dad.” She laughed and rolled over.
Mike raised a brow and swallowed hard. That still sounded strange to him. “ Thanks, I didn’t know that.” He answered.
“ Now you do.” She stated lightly.
He ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily. God please let me get through this.
“ Laura, up, now.” He ordered.
“ Nnnnnno.”
“ Yes.” He said softly and grabbed her hand.
She frowned as he gently pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her. She gripped onto his shirt and closed her eyes, feeling the dizziness overcoming her entire body.
He walked her downstairs to her room and laid her down into her bed, pulling the covers over her shoulders. She leaned her head deeply into the pillow and immediately fell asleep.
Mike gave a weak smile and shook his head. He had never seen anything so funny in his entire life. She had gotten herself drunk…of all the stupid things. He walked out of her room and up the stairs towards his own, thinking about what Anna would say if she found any of this out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5:30 Am.

Mike awoke to the sickening sound of burping and coughing. His stomach twisted angrily as he listened to the disgusting sounds.
God, I’m never going to get any sleep.
He sat up and rubbed his tired eyes, hearing the toilet flush. Then a few moments later, the barfing started again.
Jesus Christ, how much did she drink?
Mike walked along the plush carpet through the hall and turned into the bathroom. His eyes squinted painfully in the light as he looked down at the young girl, huddled over the rim of the toilet bowl, throwing up violently and shaking terribly.
He sighed uneasily and sat down on the bathtub beside her. She coughed heavily and reached up with a shaky hand to flush the toilet. She leaned her head into the bowl and moaned painfully, still coughing. Mike rubbed her back gently and lowered his eyes.
He knew what it was like to be in this sort of situation. “ You okay?” he asked quietly.
She swallowed hard and closed her eyes. He watched as she shook her head slowly and breathed heavily into the bowl. She felt like her stomach was going to cave in on itself.
He heard her breathing become heavier and faster. “ Alright…it’s okay.” He said softly.
She began to throw up again and again. He cringed at the smell of alcohol and stomach contents. He knew that they both weren’t going to get a lot of sleep for the rest of the morning.
As she continued to throw up, he grabbed a cloth off of the sink and ran cold water onto it, ringing it out a few times and sitting back down on the bathtub. He pulled her long hair out of the way and pressed the cold cloth against her neck.
Slowly, she stopped throwing up and just coughed up a few remnants. He flushed the toilet for her and she wiped her mouth. “ You want to sit back?” he asked calmly.
She gave a small nod and he helped sit her back against the wall. She could feel the cold cloth being dabbed against her pale face, relieving her heated temperature. “ Finished being sick?” he asked.
Laura swallowed hard, still feeling incredibly sick to her stomach. She gave a small nod to the question, knowing that there was nothing left to throw up. “ Come on, let’s sit you on the bed.” He said quietly and helped her up.
She grabbed onto him tightly and weakly walked towards Anna’s bed, sitting down. He sat down beside her and smoothed the damp hair from her face.

Laura lowered her eyes, feeling tears beginning to stream down her cheeks for no apparent reason. Then, she began to sob quietly beside him. Mike sighed heavily and wrapped his arms around her.
She cried into his chest and he could feel her shaking. “ Why are you crying?”
Laura sniffed and swallowed hard. “ I d-don’t know.” She whimpered with a hoarse voice.
“ Okay…” he replied softly and stroked her hair as she cried.
She must have been terribly confused. One moment she’s at a party, the next she’s throwing up horribly and not knowing how she came home or what exactly she was doing. Mike let her cry into his chest for a long time. Each gut wrenching sob made him frown.
She gripped onto his shirt as her crying died down. She began to sniffle softly, still feeling terribly sick to her stomach, not to mention the growing headache. “ Are you alright?” he asked quietly.
She nodded a little and closed her eyes, listening to his steady heartbeat. Fatigue tugged at her weak body and she could feel herself drifting off to sleep. Mike listened to her breathing become slow and shallow, indicating that she had fallen asleep.
Carefully, he picked her up in his arms and carried her downstairs to her room. She was still sound asleep when he lay her in her bed for the second time that morning, pulling the covers up to her neck. He blinked wearily and stroked a few stray hairs out of her face.
Laura gave a great sigh of comfort and fell into an even deeper sleep. Anna had been right. She did look awfully peaceful when she was asleep. It somehow made Mike feel even sleepier as he watched her.
As he watched her, he felt something tugging at his heart, something he had never felt before. It caused him to frown slightly, trying to figure out this feeling. It was like a feeling of peace and quiet.
But there was something else there, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. He stroked her cheek gently, feeling the softness of her skin beneath his fingers.
Okay yeah I’ll admit it, she’s cute…in her own stubborn, irritating kind of way. I still can’t believe she’s my daughter. I don’t think I’m ever going to get over that. How can Anna expect me to love someone that I don’t even know?
He rubbed his eyes slowly and blinked with fatigue. With that, he walked towards the stairs, leading up to the door. He looked back at the sleeping child and gave a small smile.
“ Sweet dreams brat.” He whispered.

~~AWW..anywhoosies..im going to bed cuz writing this made me kinda sleepy...hope u enjoyed it and more to come. What happens the next day? Does she get in serious trouble??? OOOO....anywhoosies....thanks and please review!!!:)~~
Into The Studio
~~YAY...thanks EVERYONE for reading this far. Your reviews make me smile every day!! *hugs to everyone*...ENJOY!:)~~

Laura moaned painfully and rubbed her head as she walked upstairs from her room. It felt like someone was driving a long metal screw through her brain, that or she had been run over by a semi. Mike looked up from the paper and smiled a little, sipping his coffee.
Laura squinted and sat down at the island, cowering her head from the bright sun shining through the window. “ How’s my little drunk this morning?” he asked.
Laura looked at him and frowned. “ Could you keep it down?” she asked weakly.
Mike chuckled and brought his coffee cup up to his mouth while leaned back against the counters. “ How much of last night do you remember?”
Laura stared down at the wooden island in thought before replying. “ Going to the party…then crying on the bed…”
Mike raised his eyes and swallowed the steaming drink. “ Unfortunately I had the chance of witnessing EVERYTHING, from the moment you got home to now. I have to say, you don’t hold your alcohol very well.” He explained.
Laura gave a small moan at the booming sound of his voice. “ Okay so…what’s my punishment?” she asked with a dry throat.
Mike sighed and stared down at the black swirling liquid in his mug. “ Well, I could ground you for a year and tell your mother, which could lead to yelling and screaming…the disappearance of all your CDs, TV, stereo, designer shoes, jackets, purses, earrings-.”
“ –Okay, get to the point.” She muttered.
Mike gave a small smile. “ Or I could do nothing.”

“ Nothing?” she demanded with surprise and confusion.
“ Yeah, see with all my experience as a former disobedient teenager, I know that disciplining this kind of behavior is only going to lead to the same behavior over and over again.” He explained.
“ I-I’m not following.” She muttered.
Mike set his cup down on the island and crossed his arms. “ Teens who get punished for bad behavior usually want to let their parents know that their threats and punishments don’t work so they go out and continue their deviant behavior. But if the parents do absolutely nothing, the teen becomes confused and doesn’t continue the bad behavior, feeling relieved that they are in the clear and feeling that doing it again would be stupid.” He explained carefully.
Laura stared at him and blinked slowly. He had a really good point. “ So I’m not grounded?” she asked.
“ Nope, instead you are coming with me to the studio this afternoon. There was a slight emergency with the vocals and I have to go in there and fix them.”
“ Why do I have to go?” she complained.
“ Because this is your punishment…which isn’t really a punishment because I know that Chester is going to have you do something to entertain yourself…like…I don’t know, screw up the album even more, forcing me to work even harder. Actually now that I think about it, this could be considered a way for you to get back at me for being such an ass.” He explained in thought.
Laura gave a small smile and sat up a little more. “ Okay, now I’m interested.”
“ I thought you might be…don’t forget these.” He stated as he handed her a bottle of aspirin.
She stared down at it and raised a brow. “ So are you going to tell mom about this?”
Mike squinted in thought and gave a large sigh. “ Nah. There are some things that should stay between a father and daughter…and this is one of them. Besides I don’t want her knowing that I let you go to a party without talking to her first because I have a feeling you weren’t allowed to go in the first place, even though you told me your mom confirmed it.” He explained.
Laura raised her eyes. “ Wow, you figured it out.”
“ Yeah, like why would your mom let you go to a party with alcohol?” he asked as he went upstairs to take a shower.
“ But you would?” she asked.
He stopped at the top of the stairs and smiled. “ This is going to be a fun seven days huh?”
She frowned with confusion as he disappeared into the bathroom. Either he was extremely immature and irresponsible or he had something up his sleeve, like…let’s say, a moral lesson.
I know one thing, I’m never getting drunk again.
The girl lowered her eyes and sighed heavily. “ Damn he’s good.” She muttered quietly to herself.
~*~*~*~*~*~

Chester swiveled around and around and around in his chair until everything around him became a blur. He had begun to feel sick when a form stopped his chair, causing him to almost fall out of it. When his eyes came to a focus, he looked up and frowned at Mike.
“ Hey man, you’re late.”
“ Yeah, I had some things to take care of.” He answered.
Chester’s eyes slowly moved to the beautiful young girl standing near the door. “ Hey, who’s this?” he asked with curiosity.
Mike looked at his daughter and frowned a little. What the hell was he going to tell him? Oh, by the way Chester I have a daughter…nope, couldn’t work.
“ She’s uh…uh-.”
“ –His niece.” She interrupted.
Thank God.
Chester smiled and sat back in the chair, swiveling it from side to side. “ Nice to meet you. Wow Mike, I didn’t know you had a niece.”
“ Neither did I.” he muttered with relief.
“ So what’s she doing here?” Chester asked with interest.
Mike walked over to her and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards Chester and sitting her down into an identical chair in front of the controls. “ I’m staying with her mom for a while but she’s in New York so I have to watch her. I’m not leaving her home alone.”
“ Mike I can take care of myself.” She muttered.
“ This coming from a girl who got wasted last night.” He whispered, so only she could hear.
Laura lowered her eyes. “ Fine.” Mike smiled a little and nodded. “ Okay Chaz, she’s all yours.”
“ Don’t worry Mike, I’ll make sure she’s occupied while you work.” He smiled back.
“ I swear to God if you let her touch the editing software-.”
“ –Yeah you’ll strangle me, I know, I’ve heard the lecture about a million times.” Chester grumbled.
Mike sighed heavily. He looked down at Laura and frowned. “ Behave.”
“ Yes dad.” She muttered sarcastically.
Mike frowned as he stared at her for a long moment. “ Don’t do that.” He stated quietly.
“ Still freaks you out, doesn’t it?” she asked with a smile.
“ Yes, now shut up about it.” He answered and left the control room. Chester didn’t bother asking what that was all about. Instead, he sat up and smiled at the girl.
“ Wanna piss him off?” he asked. Laura smiled and sat forward. “ I’m in.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Laura and Chester watched intently as Mike performed his vocals in the recording booth. Chester looked at Laura and pointed to a small control, smiling and nodding. She took this as a hint and pressed it, pushing it upward through its slot very fast. “ Fucking hell!” Mike shouted and ripped off the headphones.
The buzzing from the music still rang loudly in his ears. He stared at the window and saw the two retards laughing crazily. He glared and put back on the headphones.
“ Don’t touch the volume.” He ordered through the mic.
Laura coughed down her laugh and high fived Chester. “ You think he sounded pissed?” she asked.
“ Not pissed enough, watch this.” He answered and flicked up a few controls. Laura smiled and watched Chester move his hand around the controls. Mike’s vocals echoed through the window and she gave a small laugh. He was going to be pissed. “ Okay, push this up as fast as you can.” He ordered with a chuckle.
Laura pressed her finger against the control and pushed it up incredibly fast, causing a large high pitched noise to ring through Mike’s headphones. He cried out with pain and threw the headphones to the floor, holding his ears.
“ Goddamn fucking son of a bitch!” he yelled angrily with pain.
Laura sat back and laughed uncontrollably with Chester. Mike growled and rubbed his ears.
I’m going to fucking murder those two.
He pressed the mic button and sighed angrily. “ What the fuck? I told you NOT to touch the volume!” he yelled.
Chester chuckled and pressed another button. “ Uh, hey man, we never touched the volume. There must be something wrong with your headphones.” He explained while trying not to burst out laughing.
“ Bullshit!” he yelled.
Laura smiled at him. He looked VERY pissed. Laura pressed the same button Chester had and contained her laughter. “ Hey Mike?”
“ What!” he shouted.
“ You seem to be speaking awfully loud…are you going deaf or something?” Chester threw back his head and cried out with laughter. Laura sat back and giggled as Mike’s face became red with anger. He sighed heavily and stormed out of the recording booth.
They both waited as he entered the control booth, still red with anger. “ Okay, congratulations, you’ve both managed to piss me off.” He muttered.
“ Yay! It worked!” Chester exclaimed.
Laura laughed and stood up. “ Are we going home yet? My headache is starting to come back.” She explained.
Mike looked at her and retained his anger. “ Yeah put on your coat.” He sighed.
She nodded and pulled it on, looking back at Chester. “ Man, we have to hang out more often.” She laughed.
“ Yeah we do! Maybe next time we can speed up the music in the background and force Mike to sing like a chipmunk.” He chuckled.
“ That’d be wicked!’ she exclaimed.
Mike rolled his eyes. “ Okay, are you two finished?” he demanded.
“ Yeah…see ya Chaz!” she called and walked out the door. “ Yeah bye!” he shouted back.
Mike pulled on his jacket and shook his head. “ She’s cool man.” Chester smiled.
Mike glanced at him and frowned. “ Yeah, she’s just as immature as you. I’m never putting you two in the same room together ever again.” He explained.
“ Aw, you had fun and you know it.” He whined.
Mike smacked him upside the head and listened to him groan with protest, causing him to smile. “ Yeah, lots of fun.” He laughed.
“ Go home bastard.” Chester muttered.
“ See you Monday.” Mike called and walked out the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~

Mike raised a brow as Laura moaned with pain beside him on the couch. Of course, watching TV wasn’t exactly helping her headache much. She rubbed the side of her head and winced. “ Still hurt?” he asked.
“ Yeah, like hell.” She answered painfully.
Mike flopped a pillow onto his lap and patted it. “ Lay down.” He ordered. She stared at him with an arched brow. “ What?”
“ Lay down, you’ll feel better.” He offered softly.
Slowly and cautiously, she laid her head down on the pillow. Mike stared at the TV and sighed heavily. “ Close your eyes.”
“ What for?” she asked suspiciously.
“ You want the headache to stop or not?” he demanded.
Laura sighed and closed her eyes. Mike then stroked her hair gently and looked down at her. “ Now, breathe in and out slowly, concentrating on the breaths and not your headache.” He explained. She reluctantly obeyed, concentrating on her breathing.
Mike continued to watch TV and stroke her hair softly. She felt herself blush under the gentleness. She also felt like she was going to fall asleep. She slowly began to realize that her headache was gone, replaced by only warm comfort. She opened her eyes and frowned.
“ Okay, what did you do, it’s gone.” She stated.
“ I didn’t do anything. You were calm and not thinking about the pain.” He explained.
“ How many hangovers have you had?” she asked curiously and rolled onto her back.
He stared down into her deep brown eyes and smiled. “ That’s not important.”
“ Yes it is. Cough it up.”
He gave a small sigh and nodded. “ Alright…let’s see…got drunk at thirteen about fifteen times, then at fourteen about seventeen times, then at fifteen about twenty times, sixteen…thirty times…-.”
“ –Okay…that’s a lot.” She muttered.
“ Yeah it was.”
“ Didn’t your parents kill you?” she asked.
Mike frowned in thought. “ Well I remember the first time they found out I was going to parties and getting drunk. I believe I was fourteen. I came home totally wasted so my dad physically threw me out onto the lawn and right into the sprinkler system. I was cold and wet and they wouldn’t let me back into the house all morning.” He explained.
“ That’s kind of harsh.” She explained with an arched brow.
He nodded and continued. “ Yeah so finally they just gave up. They said I could go get drunk as long as I didn’t come home and trash the house getting upstairs to my room. I never did it again.”
“ Why not?”
“ Didn’t I just explain this to you this morning? It’s confusing and I still don’t understand why I never did it again.” He answered.
Laura nodded and blinked her eyes wearily.
“ You should go to bed. Your headache will be gone tomorrow…and oh gee, school. Hope you have fun.” He smiled evilly.
Laura sat up and threw the pillow into his face. He frowned and watched her walk towards her room. “ That was rude.” He muttered.
She smiled and opened her door. “ Good night DAD.” She answered, putting an emphasis on the last word, just to annoy him.
He lowered his eyes and felt his cheeks paling. “ Please stop that.” He pleaded.
She laughed and disappeared into her room. Mike shook his head and sighed heavily. A small smile formed on his lips.

~~AWW...anywhoosies...read on to find out what happens the next day at school and why Mike has to be called away from work..oooo the suspense..haha not really..anyways..please review and tell me what u thought! THANKEES!!:)~~
Outsmarting The Smart
~~ENJOY THIS CHAPPIE!! Thanks to all the reviewers, u guys are sooo awesome!!! *hands out plate of hot brownies* :)~~

Chester leaned his head back and stared up at the white tile ceiling. He listened to the clicking of the mouse and keyboard from the computer that Mike was working on. “ Hey man?” Chester asked.
“ Yeah.” Mike answered, paying very little attention to him.
“ How long do you think we’re going to be in the studio working on this?”
“ What do you mean?” Mike asked with frown and stared at the computer screen.
“ I mean how many more years are you going to be tinkering with the smallest detail that no one is ever going to hear but you?” he answered with elaboration.
Mike sighed with frustration and turned around to face his friend. “ Chester, this album has to be PERFECT.”
“ Its fine the way it is.”
“ We have ten songs.” Mike stated blankly.
Chester sighed heavily. “ Well excuse me mister I’m too smart for my best friend.”
The ringing of a cell phone cut through the growing tension in the room. Mike reached into his pocket, pulled it out and brought it to his ear. “ Yeah?” he asked.
The voice on the other end sounded like it was coming from an older male. Chester stared at his friend and listened to the voice through the phone. “ Who’s speaking?”
He paused to let the person answer, while staring at Chester, gradually lowering his eyes at the information. “ Alright I’ll be right there.” He sighed and flipped the phone back into his pocket, standing up.
“ Hey, what’s up man?” Chester asked with confusion.
“ I have to get down to the school, the principal wants to talk to me…I need to take the day off…can you finish your parts?” he asked quickly and pulled on his jacket.
Chester raised a brow. “ Yeah…sure…”
“ Okay, see you later.” Mike muttered and rushed out the door. Chester stared down at the floor and raised a brow.
“ School? Principal?” he asked himself with confusion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laura glared and stared down at the floor, trying to not look at the principal, Mr. Miller. She never liked the asshole very much. He was always trying to prove one point…that he had all the power in the world. He was the kind of authority figure that she just wanted to stuff a firecracker up his ass and light it.
A soft knock was heard at the door and her ears perked slightly. “ Come in.” Mr. Miller called and pulled off his tiny glasses.
Mike walked into the office, and glanced over at Laura. She did not look happy. “ I’m sorry…I thought her father was coming.” Mr. Miller stated with confusion.
Mike sighed heavily and stared at him. “ Yeah, that’s me.”
“ Oh…I-I’m sorry…you look so…young.” He confessed.
Mike gave a small nod and ran a hand through his spiked hair. “ So I’m told.” He muttered.
“ Have a seat.”
Mike sat down in the small leather chair beside Laura. He had no idea what she had done or why he was here but somehow, seeing the look on her face told him it wasn’t going to be pretty. “ Sir, I’ve called you in here today because something quite surprising has caught my staff’s attention.”
Mike stared at the principal as he pulled a sheet of paper out of a file, placing it on the desk. Laura rolled her eyes and slumped further down into the chair, knowing exactly where this was going.
“ This is the final math exam for this semester. Your daughter wrote it early this morning. You see, the problem with this is…when the test was corrected, she received a mark of one hundred percent, including the bonus question.”
Mike raised his eyes with confusion. “ And that’s a problem?” he asked.
Mr. Miller gave a heavy sigh and showed him the paper. “ It is almost impossible to receive one hundred percent on a final math exam. Even the bonus question took five of my staff three hours to work on and they still haven’t figured it out. It was only meant to give the students effort marks.” He explained carefully.
Mike stared at him blankly. “ Okay…what’s your point?”
“ Sir, your daughter cheated.”
Laura snorted and shook her head. Mr. Miller glared at her and glanced back at the test. “ I don’t know how she acquired the answers but she will be punished by the school board.” He explained.
Mike frowned and glanced at Laura. “ You cheated?” he asked quietly.
“ No.” she answered sternly.
“ Laura, Miss Perkins witnessed you looking at your hand during the entire test.” The principal explained with doubt.
“ Well Miss Perkins is full of shit!” she exclaimed.
Mike lowered his eyes and stared at her.
“ If you continue this behavior, I will have to remove you from my office.” Mr. Miller stated angrily.
Laura stared at him furiously. “ You can believe your little staff members all you want. The fact is that I did NOT cheat on this exam. I can’t help being smarter than your dumbass teachers.” She explained.
“ Laura.” Mike stated quietly with warning.
“ No Mike, I am not going to let him do this to me. I didn’t cheat okay?”
“ Sir, this is what I am talking about. She has a lack of respect for her elders.” Mr. Miller replied.
Mike looked down and thought about their arguments.
“ I am expelling her from this school.” The principal stated harshly.
“ Wait.” Mike answered and looked up from the floor. They both stared at him with expectation.
“ I want to hear her side of the story.”
“ Its useless…she cheated. What more do you want?”
“ I want to hear it from her.” Mike replied, feeling the frustration rising within him. This guy was such an ass.
“ Fine, not that it makes any difference.” Miller muttered.
Mike looked at his daughter and sighed uneasily. She stared into his deep eyes, waiting for the question. “ What happened?” he asked quietly.
“ I was rubbing my head because I still have a killer headache from yesterday. I did not have any answers on my hand and I did not cheat. Yeah I may be a bad student but I’m not a retard. I understand math perfectly.” She explained calmly.
Mike nodded a little, hearing the sincerity in her voice. “ Alright.”
“ You believe her?” Miller asked with surprise.
“ Yes I do.”
“ Sir, your daughter is a liar. There is no way she could have gotten a single answer right on this exam!”
Mike’s flawless face slowly formed a deep glare. “ Are you calling her an idiot?” he demanded.
“ Well she certainly isn’t school material.”
Mike couldn’t believe this guy. He was being extremely condescending for no apparent reason. “ I beg your pardon?” he demanded.
“ I want you both out of my office NOW.” Miller stated and stood up.
Mike stood up and Laura followed. “ You have no evidence that she cheated.” Mike explained while trying to remain calm.
“ I have witnesses.” He answered.
“ Unreliable witnesses.” Mike added angrily.
“ This discussion is over. Out!” he ordered and grabbed Laura by the arm, forcing her out the door. Mike’s eyes darkened and he grabbed the principal, punching him hard across the jaw, sending him stumbling against the wall. He then grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against the wall, staring into his frightened eyes with pure anger.
“ Laura out.” He ordered.
“ But-.”
“ –Now!” he yelled.
The young girl exited the office quickly and stood behind the door, listening with a frown. Mike stared at the frail man with hatred. “ If you EVER touch my daughter again I’ll sue your ass off for sexual harassment, and have you thrown in jail for the rest of your life.” He growled.
Miller stared at him, visibly shaken. “ Get out, I’m calling my lawyer.” He muttered.
Mike nodded and released him hard, causing him to brace himself against the wall. “ Go ahead, you’re going to need one.” He spat and left the office, slamming the door.
Laura raised a brow as Mike led her down the hall quickly and out of the school. “ Why are we walking so fast?”
“ Because I’m not exactly keen on going to jail tonight.” He answered quickly and entered the truck. Laura fastened her seat belt as Mike pulled out of the parking lot quickly, driving down the road with a sigh of relief. They sat there in silence, listening to the hum of the engine and the wind hitting the windshield. Laura couldn’t stand the silence anymore and decided to shatter it.
“ You punched my principal.” She stated meekly.
Mike glanced at her with a frown. “ Yeah and that ass deserved it.” He replied.
“ Why’d you do it?” she asked with interest.
He gave a large sigh and stared out the window. “ He grabbed you. He had no right. He deserves to be sitting on a street corner begging for money.” He explained.
Laura raised her eyes with surprise. “ Wow, I didn’t know you cared that much about me.”
Mike stopped at the red light and slowly turned his vision to her. “ When did I say I cared about you?”
“ Actions speak louder than words.”
“ My actions were provoked by anger, not care.” He explained carefully.
“ Yeah but you protected me from him. Hey wow, this must be that maternal instinct thing mom keeps talking about.” She answered with a gasp.
Mike lowered his eyes and sighed uneasily. He hated being picked apart like a book.
“ You called me your daughter.” She smiled and looked down.
Mike blushed a little and frowned. “ Yeah when?”
“ Back there, after you punched him.” She replied.
“ Must have slipped out.” He muttered weakly.
“ Aw, you care about me.” She laughed.
“ Nuhuh.”
“ Yahuh.”
“ NUHUH!”
“ YAHUH!”
He gave up and pressed on the gas pedal, zooming through mid afternoon traffic. “ You’re a brat.” He growled.
“ I know…it’s my most endearing quality. Hey I have a question by the way.”
“ As long as it has nothing to do with me caring about you…which I don’t…sure.” He answered quickly.
“ Why did you believe me?” Mike stared at the road in thought.
“ Because I know how smart you are. You get that from my side you know?”
“ Wait, YOU’RE smart? Since when?” she demanded with surprise.
“ Since forever. What you think I made it this far in life being a dumbass?” he asked.
“ I don’t know.”
“ You also get that smartass attitude from me…which I might add stop that because I’m sure your mom doesn’t want to pay for you to go to another school.” He explained casually.
Laura frowned a little and stared at him. “ So do I get anything from mom?”
“ Yeah, you have that stubbornness that drives me insane. Plus that same look she gets when she’s pissed at me.”
“ So let me get this straight. I’m a smartass intelligent, stubborn, angry person with potential musical abilities and talents?” she asked.
Mike raised a brow and nodded. “ Yep, that just about sums you up.”
“ Wow…I’m so cool.” She breathed in realization.
“ Does that mean I’m cool?” he asked.
Laura snorted a laugh. “ Yeah right Mike.”
“ That’s a good way to get no dinner.” He stated and pulled into the driveway.
“ Bite me.” She growled.

~~MORE TO COME VERY VERY SOON..LIKE VERY SOON...hope u enjoyed this chappie...please review on ur way out...THANK YOU!!:)~~

Movie Night
~~K sorry for taking so long to update...anywhoo...here's the 8th chappie..enjoy!:)~~

The evening slowly crept up on the small town. Inside the house, Mike and Anna were sitting on the couch watching TV. They hadn’t started the movie yet, knowing that Laura was going to emerge from her room eventually. And of course she did, feeling her hand itching like crazy.
She shook her hand around and walked into the living room. “ Mom it itches.” She complained.
Anna glanced away from the TV and looked at her hand. “ That’s probably because the dried blood is irritating your skin. You should go wash your hand and put on a band-aid.” She suggested softly.
“ Where are the band-aids?”
“ I don’t know, you’re a big girl, go find them.” She replied and went back to watching the television.
Laura sighed heavily and walked into the kitchen, opening all the cupboards she could find. She peered around boxes and containers of medication finding nothing even close to resembling the band-aid box. With a grumble of dis-satisfaction, she turned around and put her hands on her hips.
“ Mom I can’t find the band-aids.” She whined.
Mike slumped down in the couch, attempting to hear the program.
“ Keep looking.” She muttered back.
“ They’re not here.” The girl stated.
Mike rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. “ Their upstairs in the medicine cabinet.”
Laura looked up in thought. “ Oh yeah.” She smiled and ran upstairs.
The two parents continued to watch TV in peace until suddenly a few minutes later a shout was heard from upstairs. “ MIKE I CAN’T FIND THEM!”
He sighed with irritation and leaned his head back against the couch.
“ Mike, you’re daughter needs you.” Anna stated wearily.
“ Why can’t you take care of it?” he whined.
“ Because she called for you.” She answered with a small smile.
“ MIKE!”
“ Yeah I’m coming!” He shouted back with annoyance.
He slowly got off the couch and proceeded upstairs to the bathroom. Laura stared at him as he opened the medicine cabinet. “ Did you look in here?” he asked.
“ No I thought I’d look around the toilet bowl for a while.” She muttered sarcastically.
He gave a small sigh and pulled the band-aid box out from the back of the cabinet, placing it onto the counter. “ See this? It was back there.” He explained.
She stared into the cabinet and squinted. “ But it wasn’t.”
“ God you’re blind child.” He muttered and shook his head.
“ I’m not a child.” She stated.
“ No you’re right. You’re an overgrown baby.” He answered.
She lowered her eyes at him and grabbed the box, attempting to open it. Her hand just wasn’t working that well so she ended up dropping the band-aids all over the floor.
She gave an angry growl and wiped the hair from her eyes. Mike sighed heavily and bent down, cleaning up the band-aids. He placed the box back onto the counter and looked into her dark eyes. “ Give me your hand.”
“ I can clean it myself.”
“ You can’t even open a box of band-aids…give me the hand before I cut it off.” He ordered.
She rolled her eyes and stuck it out. He grabbed it gently and began to unwrap it. Carefully he pulled the gauze pad off of the wound and ran warm water from the sink. He pushed her hand under the soft wetness and wiped the blood off with a towel ever so gently.
She was quite surprised by his gentleness, even though his words were never gentle. A few moments later, he dried off her hand and opened a band-aid, placing it over the now swollen wound. She poked at the band-aid as he cleaned up the counter.
“ You didn’t have to do that you know.” She muttered.
“ Yes…I did. Now take some of these for the pain. It’ll make you a little drowsy.” He explained as he handed her two pills.
She stared at him and swallowed them painfully.
“ Your mom wants you downstairs for the movie.” He stated and left the room.
Laura raised a brow and followed him downstairs to the dark living room. She stared down at her mother and frowned.
“ Where am I supposed to sit? You’re taking up the entire couch with your legs.”
Anna looked up at her daughter and smiled. “ Sit with your father.”
She glanced over at Mike and lowered her eyes. “ I don’t want to sit with him.”
“ Too bad.” Anna muttered and stretched out even further.
Laura sighed with irritation and flopped down beside Mike. It wasn’t long before the movie had begun. Half-way into the movie, Laura swallowed hard, feeling her dry throat. “ Mom I’m thirsty.”
“ Then go get some water.”
“ I don’t want water…do we have any pop?”
“ No, Mike took the last one.” She muttered.

Laura turned her head slowly and stared at him as he drank from the can. He looked at her and raised a brow. “ May I help you?”
“ You have beer…why do you need pop?”
“ Because I’d prefer not to get drunk. I have a busy day tomorrow.”
“ Then drink water.”
“ I don’t want water.” He replied sharply, mimicking her.
“ I hate you.”
“ Would you two please shut up? I have a headache.” Anna stated with annoyance.
Mike sighed and held out his can. “ Here.”
Laura stared at him and raised a brow of confusion. “ Here what?”
“ Drink.”
“ That’s disgusting…it has your spit all over it.”
He lowered his eyes at her. “ I made you.”
She stared at the can and sighed uneasily. She couldn’t stand her dry throat anymore so she took it.
“ Finish it…I don’t even like that kind.” Mike muttered and leaned back against the couch.
Laura frowned and looked back at the TV, drinking the much needed beverage. He could be such an ass sometimes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Near the end of the movie, Laura began to feel extremely sleepy from all that medication. It wasn’t long before she was fast asleep on the couch. Anna turned off the TV and dimmed the lamps as she sat up. Silence sifted through the house and she smiled at the sigh before her.
Laura was laying her head on Mike’s shoulder and was sound asleep. He turned his head and looked at Anna, watching her grin grow. “ Looks like you’ve inherited something.” She whispered.
He sighed heavily and looked down at his sleeping daughter. Her breathing was quiet and slow, indicating that she was in a deep sleep.
“ She’s cute isn’t she?” Anna asked.
“ As cute as a monster can be sure.” He replied quietly.
“ Oh Michael, why can’t you say one nice thing about her?”
“ Because she’s annoying…look at her all fast asleep and such. It’s enough to make a guy sick.” He explained.
Maybe she is kind of cute.
Anna smiled and stood up. “ Well that little monster is now your problem for the night. I’m heading off to bed.” She explained and stretched.
“ Wait…what am I supposed to do with her?” he asked.
Anna looked around in thought. “ I don’t know…take her to bed…she is asleep you know.”
“ How am I supposed to do that?” he asked.
“ Well…be creative.” She smiled and disappeared upstairs.
Mike sighed and looked down at the sleeping child. She gave a small sigh of comfort and leaned her head into him. He looked around the room in thought. Be creative…God why do I always have to do everything around here?
Slowly, he leaned her back against the couch and wrapped his arm around her. He then pushed his other arm beneath her legs and hoisted her up. He thought he had awoken her but to his surprise, she was still sleeping peacefully with her head in his neck.
He could feel her warm breath and he swallowed hard. This was a strange feeling to have something depend on you…especially when it’s unconscious. He then felt her arm wrap around his neck and grab his shirt instinctively while being very much still asleep.
He could feel her other hand squeezing his shoulder unknowingly. She gave another long sigh of comfort and relaxed. Okay…so maybe she isn’t so bad…well when she’s asleep anyway.
He slowly took her downstairs to her room. While managing to unroll the covers, he leaned her down into the soft bed and watched as she rolled over. He then pulled the covers over her shoulders and she instinctively grabbed them, pulling them up to her neck.
He gave a small smile and stood there, watching her sleep peacefully. “ Good night you little brat.” He muttered quietly and left the dark room.
Anna stood at her door as Mike came up the stairs, visibly weary from the long evening. “ Your child is now safely in her bed.” He announced softly.

Anna wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. “ You mean OUR child.”
He stared into her eyes and gave a weak smile. “ Perhaps.”
Anna gave a small chuckle and kissed him. “ You know…you really ARE a great dad.”
“ And how would you know that?” he asked slowly.
“ Well first, you fixed her hand and gave her medication…then you found her the band-aids and made sure she washed her hand off okay…then you took her down to her room without waking her up. I’d say you’re doing very well so far.” She explained with a smile.
“ You do know I’m going to screw this up again right?” he asked with an arched brow.
Anna stroked his cheek and shook her head. “ You can only go up from here.”
“ Knowing me, I’m going to plummet to the centre of the Earth.” He replied.
She giggled and stared into his deep eyes. “ Well when I first started out as a parent, I thought I’d end up killing her by her first birthday. I had no idea what the hell I was doing. But then I remembered that there’s only so many things that you can do wrong before everything starts going right. I knew that the awkwardness and the uneasiness would go away eventually and that we’d be okay. You see Mike, the instinct to protect is stronger than the instinct for fear.”
“ Aren’t those basically the same instincts?” he asked with confusion.
“ Fear can be a good thing. It keeps us on our toes. Besides…you love her…even though you don’t know it yet. It’ll just take some time to realize that. And one day, that love is going to bring you two together and before you know it, your screw ups will dissipate.” She explained calmly.
He stared at her, thinking about her words. “ I hope you’re right Anna. I don’t want to screw up her life.” He muttered.
“ See? It’s already happening. You care about her.” She answered.
He raised a brow as she let go of him, backing into her room. “ Wait…what just happened?” he asked nervously.
“ You want your daughter to have a good life, that’s what happened.” She replied.
“ That doesn’t mean I care about her.” He argued.
“ Alright Mike you don’t have to admit it…” she smiled.
“ Anna-.”
“ –Okay shh…I know you’re scared to admit it. You probably don’t even know you care about her. But when I see you two together…there’s something there that only a father and a daughter can have.”
He stared at her silently as she reached up and kissed him on the cheek. “ Good night Mike.” She said softly.
He watched her grab the doorknob. “ Good night.” He sighed sleepily.
As he walked to his room, he kept thinking about what Anna had said. Do I really care about her? Could I actually have all these instincts that she keeps talking about? Am I going to love her one day as my own child? My child…God that still scares the hell out of me.
In a way, I can’t escape this. I have to keep going for as long as I can. Giving up isn’t my style and never has been. I can’t leave now…Anna needs me…Laura needs me…which also scares the hell out of me. I’ve never actually been needed before, other than to be an Emcee. My life is about to get more complicated.
With those thoughts sifting through his mind, he lay down in his bed and closed his eyes. He wondered if he’d ever get to sleep that night. He couldn’t stop thinking about Laura…his daughter…someone he didn’t even know about until a few days ago and now he’s cleaning up her wounds and tucking her in for bed. This was all so unreal for him.
He never imagined he’d ever be doing this. He didn’t even think he’d ever have children. But he kept feeling this nagging responsibility. He couldn’t just leave them.
They had been alone for so long already. Maybe this isn’t going to be so bad…as long as the little brat stays away from me.
He gave a small smile at the thought. How can someone so irritating be so damn cute when they’re asleep?

~~AWWWWW MIKEY....anywhoo...More to come soon, hope you enjoyed this chappie haha...read on to find out what happens during Mike's 'busy day'...THANK YOU AND PLEASE REVIEW!!:)~~
Seven Days
~~YAY i updated...enjoy!!~~

“ Mom!” Laura shouted from upstairs. Anna flipped the page in the newspaper and frowned.
“ I’m down here!’ she shouted back from the kitchen.
Laura skipped down the stairs and treaded into the kitchen holding the phone. “ Can I meet some friends at the mall?” she asked.
Anna stared at the paper and sipped on a steaming up of coffee. “ Sure.”
Laura continued to stare at her and she looked up, lowering her eyes.
“ Let me guess…money?”
“ Do you have any?” she asked with a smile.
Anna sighed heavily. “ No.”
“ Yes you do…I saw some in your wallet this morning.”
“ What were you doing in my wallet?” she demanded with a frown.
Laura shook her head. “ It doesn’t matter…money…please?” she begged.
“ Go ask your father.”
The girl stared at her mother with a blank stare. “ That’s not funny.”
“ I know, I’ve just always wanted to say that.” Anna smiled.
“ Okay but could I please have some money?”
“ Didn’t I just finish telling you to ask your father?”
“ Why would he have money?” Laura asked with confusion.
Anna stared at her and blinked slowly. “ He’s a millionaire.”
“ Yeah but he won’t give me money.”
“ Have you asked?” Laura crossed her arms and sighed heavily. “ No.”
“ Then go ask.” Anna answered and went back to reading the paper.
“ Where is he?”
“ Outside fiddling with things under the hood of his truck.” Anna muttered in response.
Laura placed the phone on the island and quickly walked outside into the bright sun.
~*~*~*~*~
“ Chester I’ve told you a million times to tell Brad to edit that. I don’t want to come into the studio sounding like a Backstreet Boy.” Mike muttered as he balanced his cell phone between his cheek and his shoulder while working on his truck.
Laura approached him slowly and watched him work.
“ This is exactly why I don’t let you edit. Everything always sounds fuzzy when you get at the controls so here’s a word of advice. Leave the editing to me.” He paused as Chester yelled something into the phone.
“ Mike.” Laura whispered, attempting to arouse his attention.
Mike ignored her and continued to pull at wires and tubes. “ That is SO advice.”
Another pause.
“ I’m not telling you what to do, I’m telling you what not to do.”
“ Mike.” She whispered again, slowly raising her voice.
“ Do you want to fuck up the album?”
“ Mike.” She hissed.
He glanced at her and frowned as Chester continued to rant in his ear. He looked back down under the hood and sighed with irritation. “ Chaz, just don’t touch the controls. It’s simple.”
Yet another pause.
“ Remember what happened to Hybrid Theory that last time you did that? We had to edit In The End for the millionth time…don’t touch the controls.”
“ Mike.”
“ Listen, can you hold on for a sec?” he asked and brought the phone down to his chest. “ What?” he asked Laura with irritation.
“ I need to ask you something.” She answered.
Mike stared at her and frowned. “ Well then ask me later, I’m busy.” He replied angrily.
“ But it’s urgent.” She whined.
“ Okay fine, what do you need?” he sighed.
She stared at his truck and shrugged. “ I don’t know, you seem kind of pissy now…I don’t think I should ask you until you’re in a good mood.”
Mike rolled his eyes and brought the phone back up to his ear. “ Yeah I’m still here.” He muttered and went back to work.
Laura slowly walked around the truck to the driver’s side and hopped in. She leaned back against the leather seat and looked around the dash. There were so many buttons. She let out a large breath and looked through the windshield at the black hood.
She could hear Mike’s voice through the open side door window and lowered her eyes with content. An idea had just popped into her mind…a very devious plan indeed. She knew a great way to get him off the phone…and get his money into her pocket.
She ran her finger around the middle of the steering wheel, licking her lips in anticipation. She briefly considered not doing this but she figured he was already in a bad mood and making his day even worse would make her feel happy. She smiled and with immense force, pressed down on the horn for less than ten seconds.
Mike’s head snapped up and he banged it hard against the top of the hood.
“ Son of a bitch!” he shouted as the horn rang through his ears.
Laura chuckled to herself and looked out the window. Mike rubbed his head and squinted with pain. “ Yeah Chaz, I’ll call you back.”
With that, he flicked his phone shut and threw it into his pocket. Laura stared out the window as he slammed the hood down, staring at her with a glare. She gave a weak smile as he treaded over to the driver’s side and rubbed his head, making sure it wasn’t bleeding.
“ Fuck.” He muttered and stopped at the window.
He stared at her with a deep glare. She gave a large smile, showing her straight white teeth. “ Hey Mike, what’s up?”
He blinked slowly, trying to suppress his urge to strangle her. “ What the hell is your problem? I was in the middle of a very important phone call when you so rudely blasted the fucking horn, causing my ears to explode and my head to smash against the hood which I might add hurts like fucking hell.” He explained through clenched teeth.
Laura lowered her eyes slightly. “ Well I’m sorry but it’s a weekend and there are more important things to worry about. Besides, I’m sure your album will sound as crappy as all the other ones anyway.” She explained lightly.
Mike glared and rolled his eyes. “ Alright, what did you need?” he asked to change the subject.
“ Well you see…the mall is a very busy area with lots of stores and such and I was wondering if my loving father would be so kind as to give his beautiful daughter a small amount of cash so she can buy lots of awesome shit.” She explained with a beaming smile.
Mike stared at her and raised a brow. “ So I’m only your dad when you need money?”
“ Precisely.” She answered and held out her hand.
He sighed heavily and pulled out his wallet, handing her a 100 dollar bill. She stared at it with wide eyes. “ Whoa Mike…this is like…a lot of money.” She breathed.
“ Yeah it is…I don’t need it…I have too many hundreds taking up space and I needed to clear some money out…enjoy.” He muttered.
“ How many millions do you have exactly?” she asked.
He stared at her in thought. “ Well…a lot more than most rock stars.”
“ What the hell kind of answer is that?”
“ The kind of answer that lets you know that I have millions without actually telling you how many.” He answered with a smile.
She lowered her eyes as a thought slowly formed in her mind. “ Mike?” she asked lightly.
Now she wants something else. “ What?”
“ The mall is a long way from here…a very long walk…and I was wondering if you would be so kind as to give me a ride.”
He stared at her for a long moment, briefly considering her question. “ No.”
“ Why not?” she demanded.
“ It’s a weekend and I have more important things to worry about remember?” he replied cheerfully.
“ If you don’t drive me I’ll-.”
“ –You’ll what, threaten me?” he asked.
“ I’ll tell mom how you broke her good china and hid the pieces under the couch.” She hissed.
His eyes widened at the thought of Anna scolding him and whacking him with a dish cloth. “ You wouldn’t.” he growled with squinted eyes.
“ I would.” She growled back.
He stared at her for a long moment, then opened the door. “ Move over.”
“ Yes!” she squealed and crawled over to the passenger seat.
“ Mike, why are there pieces of my china under the couch?” Anna demanded as she opened the front door.

He looked out the window and pretended to know nothing about it, but then decided not to play dumb. “ Uh…she did it.” He answered, pointing to Laura.
The girl glared and smacked him on the arm. “ Ow.” He whispered.
Anna crossed her arms and glared at him. “ Where the hell do you think you’re going? You have a lawn to mow.”
“ Uh…well duty calls Anna…Laura has to get to the mall and you know, it closes in like…ten hours so there’s really a rush.” He explained and started the engine.
“ Get this damn tank out of here before we both get into trouble.” Laura muttered quietly.
“ I’m going as fast as I can.” He answered back and pulled out of the driveway. Anna watched them speed down the road and gave a small smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“ Wow you two are finally back.” Anna stated as she stared at her watch, indicating 7:00.
Mike lowered his eyes at Laura. “ Well the only reason why we are home so late is because SOMEONE wouldn’t get out of the mall when I specifically asked her to be outside by four.”
“ Mike, let me explain something to you. My friend is a HUGE Linkin Park obsessor and if she saw you in that truck when I got in, she would have a panic attack and probably pass out. Besides if she knew I was going home with you she’d stalk me.” She explained slowly.
Mike gave a small smile. “ I find this very ironic.”
“ What?” she asked.
“ You’re related to me, something all those little teeny boppers out there would dream of yet you hate me.”
“ That’s not ironic.” Laura muttered with confusion.
“ Did I mention I’m a millionaire?”
“ Yes many times.”
“ Okay you two, I have something to tell you.” Anna announced.
They both stared at her as she gathered her strength to lay down the news. “ Okay…tomorrow I have to leave for a conference in New York…it should last about seven days so you two will be alone together for a week.” She explained cautiously, waiting for the yelling to start.
Mike and Laura glanced at each other slowly then looked back at Anna. “ W-what? A week? With this brat?” he demanded.
Here it comes. “ Mike it’s really not that long.”
“ Anna, she’s going to kill me.” He complained.
“ I’M going to kill YOU? Last time we were home alone together I didn’t get to eat.” She whined back.
“ Well that’s because you’re helpless.”
“ And you’re immature and irresponsible!” she shouted back.
Anna rubbed her eyes and lowered her head. “ Guys-.”
“ –I can’t believe I have to spend seven days with an idiot of a father!”
“ I can’t believe I have to spend seven days with a whining little monster!”
“ STOP!” Anna yelled.
They both stared at her silently as she took a large breath. “ This is going to happen whether you two like it or not and I expect both of you to remain as mature as possible until I get back. Mike I shouldn’t have to lecture you about being a responsible man and Laura I shouldn’t have to tell you to behave. Now…I want the fighting to stop because frankly my headache is getting worse so please would everyone please shut the fuck up?” she asked quietly.
Mike lowered his head as Laura glanced at him with a glare.
“ I’m leaving tomorrow morning around five thirty.” She muttered and went upstairs.
Mike sighed heavily and shook his head. “ This week is going to be hell.” He muttered.
Laura snorted and raised a brow. “ For you or for me?”
“ Both.” He growled.
“ Why don’t you go back to your mansion in L.A for a while?”
“ Why don’t you go back to your room and clean it?” he asked.
“ I hate you.” She muttered.
“ Good, I’d be a little scared if you didn’t hate me.” He answered.
Laura crossed her arms and lowered her eyes. “ You’re an ass Mike.”
“ And you’re a bitch.”
“ I heard that!” Anna shouted from upstairs.
Mike looked up and stared at the stairs with guilt. “ Go back to packing sweetie!” he called.
“ I can’t believe she’s in love with you.” Laura stated.
“ And I can’t believe she gave birth to a demon child.”
Laura stared at him and gave a small smile. “ Mike…you know that you did help with the mix right?”
“ Excuse me?”
“ Where do you think I get it from?” she asked and walked to her room.
He raised a brow and watched her door close. Damn, she’s turning into me. Ugh…I don’t think I’ll survive seven days alone with her.


~~AWWW...read on to find out what happens during those seven days. OH BTW...thankees to all my reviewers so far..u guys are so awesome!!! Keep reviewing and i'll keep updating as fast as i can...THANKEES!!~~
Parting
~~WOOT updates...enjoy!!:)~~
5:30 am.

Anna began to unload her clothes from her dresser and neatly fold them into her suitcase. A small knock was heard at the door and she opened it with a smile. Mike leaned on the door frame and stared at her with helpless eyes.
“ Please don’t leave me.” He begged quietly.
Anna giggled a little and grabbed his hand, pulling him into her room. He stared at her suitcase and sighed heavily, knowing that she would be leaving very soon if she wanted to catch her flight at seven.
“ Anna?”
“ Yes?” she asked as she folded another shirt into the suitcase.
“ I’m going to screw up.” He muttered.
She stopped folding her clothes and stared into his sad eyes. He flopped down on the bed and lowered his head. She gave a weak smile and sat down beside him. “ Mike…you’re too hard on yourself.”
“ I know…that’s exactly why I know I’m going to screw up. I just know I’m going to be making the phone call, telling you that your daughter fell down the stairs and broke her neck.” He muttered.
Anna grabbed his hand and laughed a little. “ Aw you’re so cute when you’re worried.”
“ Yeah, worried about what you’re going to do to me if she ends up dead.” He replied quietly.
“ She’s not going to end up dead, Mike. I know you have some responsibility in there somewhere and you’re not going to let anything bad happen to her. You’re just scared, okay? It’ll pass soon enough. Besides, seven days really isn’t that long.” She explained.
“ Easy for you to say…you won’t be the one taking care of the little brat.” He answered.
“ But I’m also worried.”
“ Why?”
“ I’m leaving her with you, remember?”
He lowered his eyes. “ Ha ha very funny.”
She chuckled and threw another shirt into her suitcase. “ You’ll be fine. And if you need anything…advice or something…just phone me okay?”
“ Yeah.” He muttered as she stood up, zipping her suitcase closed. He watched her as she pulled the suitcase off the bed.
“ Mike…come with me.” She said quietly.
“ Where?” he asked curiously as he stood up.
“ I want to show you something.” She replied and pulled him out of the room and down the stairs, placing her suitcase by the front door.
He followed her down into Laura’s room and they stopped by the wall. “ What are we doing here?” he whispered.
Anna grabbed his hand and smiled. “ Have you ever watched her while she’s asleep?”
“ Not really and why the hell would I do that?”
Anna stared at her daughter fondly and watched her chest rise and fall slowly. She had one arm underneath her pillow and the other one leaned up against the front of the pillow. Her eyes moved quickly from side to side under the lid as she dreamt. “ She’s so peaceful…kind of like a little angel…don’t you think?” she whispered.
Mike looked down at the sleeping child and lowered his eyes. “ I guess…”
“ We made that you know.”
Mike gave a small smile and looked at Anna. “ Yeah I’m actually surprised that we could make a demon child look like such an angel.” He muttered.
She lowered her eyes with a small smile. “ Now Mike, I want you to look at that innocent child and I want you to tell me what you’re feeling.”
“ What I’m feeling?” he asked with confusion.
“ Yes…tell me how the sight of something so precious makes you feel knowing that you created her.” She explained softly.
He stared down at the child and shrugged in thought. “ I don’t know…I kind of don’t feel like strangling her anymore.” He whispered.
Anna chuckled and leaned her head onto his shoulder. “ Mike, I think you’re going to do fine.” She stated softly.
“ I hope so.” He sighed.
Anna let go of him and walked towards her daughter, gently placing a kiss on her forehead. “ Bye baby.” She whispered softy.
Laura unconsciously frowned and buried her head deeper into the pillow. Anna smiled and walked back to Mike. “ Come on…walk me to the door.” She ordered gently.
He lowered his eyes and followed her upstairs to the door. Anna stopped and faced him. He stared into her eyes and frowned, seeing something he had never seen before…some kind of anxiety.
“ What’s wrong?” he asked.
She sighed uneasily and looked down. “ I’m going to miss her.”
“ Yeah of course you will. You’re her mother.”
“ But what if something bad happens. What if she DOES fall down the stairs and break her neck? What if she gets suffocated by her pillow at night and dies?” she demanded with panic.
“ Hey, hey, hey, I thought you said everything was going to be fine? Now you’re scaring the hell out of me.” He explained.
“ I’m sorry Mike. I’m just a little apprehensive about leaving her home alone.”
“ She’s not home alone…I’m here.” He replied with confusion.
Anna stared at him as tears began to form in her eyes. “ I know but you’re going to screw it up.” she cried and pressed her head into his chest.
He frowned and rolled his eyes. “ Anna, you just finished telling me that every thing would be okay.”
“ I lied.” She sobbed.
“ That’s comforting.” He muttered.
She lifted her head and wiped her tears. “ Maybe I shouldn’t go.”
“ And I really think you should. Getting attached to her like this is going to cause you problems in the future. What happens when she moves out?”
Her eyes widened as his statement.
“ What, you never thought about that?” he asked.
Anna rubbed the hair out of her eyes and sniffed. “ Not really.”
“ Well then this will be practice.” He replied.
She stared into his chocolate eyes and frowned. “ Okay…maybe you’re right. I am too attached to her.”
“ And I’m not attached enough. We are great parents aren’t we?” he asked with a smile.
She gave a weak smile and resisted the urge to laugh. Mike had the strangest ways of brining humor into a tense situation. “ Yeah…oh by the way, the emergency numbers are on the fridge, along with my cell number and the number for the hotel. Now if there’s a fire or something, do you know the number for nine one one?” she asked.
He stared at her blankly for a moment. “ Yeah, nine one one.” He answered.
“ Okay good…I-I know, I’m being obsessive again.”
“ Only…a lot.” He replied with a chuckle.
She lowered her eyes with a larger smile. “ I should leave before I miss my plane.”
“ Okay.” He answered.
She stared at him for a long moment, then kissed him gently on the lips. He pulled her in closer and the kiss became longer and slower. After the long moment had passed, they pulled away from the kiss.
“ Okay…we’ll finish this when I get back.” She said quietly.
He smiled and let go of her hand. “ I love you.” He stated.
“ Love you too…take care of her.”
“ I will.” He answered as she walked out the door. “ Bye.”
With that, he closed the door and turned around. He ran a hand through his dark hair nervously. “ This’ll be fun.” He muttered sarcastically.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laura raced up the stairs from her room and slid into the kitchen, grabbing onto the island for support. She was already running late. “ Dammit, where are my shoes?” she muttered.
Mike raised a brow and turned around from the TV. “ What the hell are you doing?” he demanded.
“ Trying to find my shoes…did mom leave?”
“ Yeah, after a half an hour of crying…what do you need your shoes for?” he asked with interest.
“ I can’t go out without them.” She answered and opened the closet.
“ Go out where?” he asked.
“ I have this party I’m supposed to go to in a few minutes but I can’t find my damn, oh here they are!” she stated with excitement and grabbed her shoes.
Mike stood up and looked at his watch. “ Did you just wake up?” he asked.
“ Yeah a few minutes ago, why?”
“ It’s three o’clock.”
“ I like to sleep in.”
“ That’s not sleeping, that’s being in a comatose state.” He muttered and walked into the kitchen, stretching his arms.
“ Whatever, I have to go.” She growled and pulled on her shoes.
“ Wait.” He ordered.
She stopped and stared at him, waiting for him to finish what he was going to say. “ I never heard about any party.”
“ That’s because I don’t keep you in the loop of things. I told mom about it last week…you can phone her if you want to confirm it.” She explained and pulled on her jacket.
Mike raised a brow. How convenient. “ What time are you coming home?”
“ Maybe three or four.”
“ In the morning?” he demanded.
“ Yeah, why?” she asked.
He stared into her dark eyes and frowned. “ Laura you cannot come home at three or four in the morning. That’s ridiculous.” He explained.
“ Haven’t you ever been to a party, Mike?” she demanded and ran her fingers through her black hair.
“ We’re not talking about me.”
“ But you have right? I mean, you’ve probably come home around three in the morning.”
“ Not when I was thirteen.”
“ Bullshit.” She spat.
He sighed uneasily and shook his head. “ Your mom would kill me if she found out you were coming home at three in the morning from parties.” He explained.
“ Uh excuse me, it’s only one party.”
“ Which has the potential of turning into more so I want you home before one.” He ordered.
“ One?” she demanded in disbelief.
“ Yeah.”
“ And what if I don’t?”
“ Then I tell your mom.”
“ Oo I’m shaking.” She muttered sarcastically.
“ After I ground you for a month.” He smiled.
“ What? You can’t do that! You’re not my fath-.” She stopped and he raised a brow.
“ Excuse me, what was that? I believe you were saying something about me not being your father…” he stated.
“ Shut up, it slipped out.”
“ Yeah right…you had better be home before one or I’m making good on my threat.” He warned as she walked towards the door.
“ Yeah, yeah whatever.” She muttered and opened the door.
“ I’m not joking Laura.” He stated.
“ Okay fine.” She growled and left the house.
Mike sighed uneasily as he stared at the door. His eyes soon widened with realization.
Oh my God…I’m turning into my mother…I’ve been trying to hard not to become my father, I did not see this coming
He looked around the room and lowered his eyes. Of course, he knew she would not be home before one. Laura never listened to him so why would she start now? What did it matter anyway?
He didn’t even like her. The thought of a quiet house all night would have made him happy…but now it only caused him to feel lonely and uneasy.
He wasn’t there with her and he knew she would end up doing something stupid. And of course Anna would get mad at him and tell him how horrible he is. He lowered his head and frowned. She’d better be home before one…

~~SOOOOOOOOO does she come home before one or will she be home later??? What happens when she comes home?? Is she drunk?? On drugs?? Pregnant?? hahaha..only i know hee hee...hope u enjoyed this chappie and more are on the way..THANK YOU AND PLEASE REVIEW!!:)~~

Instinct
~~Okay, im back again...hope you enjoy this chappie and THANKS A BUNCH for all the reviews!!! Enjoy!!:)~~

The night had been long and sleepless for Anna and especially for Mike. He didn’t know what to do with all of this. He had a daughter but he didn’t want to raise her…he didn’t know her. He heard a soft knock on the door as he swung his suit case onto the bed.
“ Come in.” he answered quietly.
Anna walked into his room slowly and closed the door behind her. She stared at the suit case and lowered her eyes.
“ Mike, don’t do this.”
“ Sorry Anna but I can’t stay here.” He muttered.
He walked towards his dresser and was about to open it when Anna stepped in front of him and leaned on it. She stared into his eyes and frowned.
“ Move.” He ordered gently.
“ No, I’m not moving. I want you to listen to me.”
“ I’m listening Anna.” He sighed impatiently.
“ Don’t you at leased think you should spend some time with her?”
“ No.”
“ Why not?”
Mike rubbed his face wearily and frowned. “ Anna, I don’t know her…I don’t want to know her. I wasn’t there when she was growing up…why should I be here now?” he demanded.
“ Because believe it or not, she needs a father.”
“ Why’s that?”
Anna looked around and swallowed hard. “ It’s difficult for me to be here all the time watching over her because I have a very demanding job. She usually spends time alone in the house, studying. I barely ever get to spend time with her and I believe that’s why she is so rude and disobedient.’
“ Anna, having a father isn’t going to change that.”
“ I think it will. She needs a family.”
Mike sighed heavily and shook his head. “ Well I don’t need a family.”
She stared into his dark eyes, knowing he wasn’t going to change his mind quickly. “ You’re afraid.”
Mike raised his eyes. “ Yeah I’m afraid. Me and children…does not work.”
“ Why not?” she asked with a frown.
“ Kids don’t like me…well the fans do but relatives…they hate me.”
“ You’re afraid that she hates you?” she asked.
Mike frowned. “ Anna she DOES hate me. I can see it in her eyes every time she looks at me.”

Anna crossed her arms and leaned further back against the dresser. “ Look, maybe she hates you now but later she might learn to accept you in her life.”
“ I don’t want her to accept me in her life. I don’t need her.”
“ Michael, I need you.”
“ For what?” he asked with confusion.
“ Because when I tell her who her father is I’m going to need your support.”
“ Anna, I am not going to sit around and watch you tell her that I’m her father. I want nothing to do with her and I’m also not going to stay with a little teenage bitch because you know what, I have a job too!”
He felt an intense stinging sensation on his cheek and he brought his hand up to rub the reddening skin. Anna pulled her hand back and tried to calm her anger. She couldn’t believe he had just called her that. Mike looked at her as he felt his eyes water.
Damn that hurt.
“ How dare you.” She hissed ferociously.
He stared at her speechlessly, still getting over the shock of the slap.
“ How DARE you. She’s your daughter. She has done nothing to deserve being called that. None of this is her fault.”
Her voice was low and quiet. Mike could sense the anger shaking within her voice. She glanced at his suitcase and glared.
“ Put that damn thing away and come downstairs. You’re STAYING.” She stated angrily and left the room, slamming the door.
He stared at the door and frowned. I hate being slapped.
He looked back at the suitcase and picked it up. He grumbled with frustration and anger as he threw it into the corner of the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laura walked into the kitchen and frowned as Mike took a big swig from the milk carton. He leaned on the open fridge as she approached the counter. She stared at him with a glare. He wiped his mouth and swallowed hard.
“ Something you need?” he demanded.
“ Yeah, mom’s going to be pissed when she finds out that you’re drinking from the carton again.” She answered with annoyance.
Mike nodded a little and stared into her eyes. Now that he thought about it…she did kind of have his eyes. He shook the thought from his mind and frowned.
“ Well she’s not going to find out, is she?”
“ That all depends on what I tell her.” She smiled.
“ You evil bitch.” He breathed.
Laura glared and grabbed the carton of milk as Anna walked into the room. She stuck her tongue out at Mike and looked at her mother.
“ Mom, Mike’s drinking from the carton again!’ she announced loudly.
Mike shook his head at the girl and sighed angrily. Anna glared and approached him, smacking him on the back of the head. “ Knock it off Mike.” She muttered.
He rubbed his head and moved away from the fridge while Laura placed the milk back inside.
“ That’ll teach ya.” Laura muttered under her breath.
Mike glared at her and restrained himself from smacking her. “ Okay both of you stop. Laura, I need to have a word with you.” Anna explained casually.
“ Oo, is this about my dad?” she asked curiously.
Mike rolled his eyes and leaned on the island. “ Yes, sit on the couch please.” Anna replied.
“ Why do I have to sit?”
“ Because I want you to…go.” She ordered calmly.
Laura marched over to the couch and quickly sat down, waiting for her mother. “ Mike, you too.” Anna ordered.
He stared at her blankly. “ No fucking way.”

“ Sit before I make you.” She growled under her breath. Mike sighed heavily and sat down in the chair across from the couch. Anna sat down on the couch near Laura and leaned on the arm rest.
“ Does he have to be here?” The girl demanded.
“ Yes he does.”
“ No I don’t.”
“ Yes you DO.” Anna stated angrily.
Mike slumped down in the chair and crossed his arms. Anna looked back at her daughter and sighed uneasily. This was going to be hard.
“ Okay…firstly I want to say that your father is an extremely gentle and warm person with a kind heart.”
Mike snorted and rolled his eyes. Anna ignored him and continued.
“ I want you to know what kind of person he is before I tell you because I believe that it’s important. He cares for nothing more than his family and friends. Now, we were very young when I became pregnant with you…around 16. The reason why I never told him about you was because I knew it would make his life more difficult. He was just beginning his life and becoming independent and I knew that he couldn’t handle a baby. I didn’t want to ruin his life.”
“ So you’re saying that I could have ruined him?” Laura asked with confusion.
Anna looked down in thought. “ No.”
“ Yes.” Mike stated.
“ Quiet Michael.” She ordered lightly.
He closed his mouth and glared.
“ Laura, what I’m trying to say is…there was no way he could have had a life of his own. A baby is a lot of work and I didn’t want to put him through that.”
Laura frowned slightly in thought. “ Wait…was I an accident?”
“ More like a mistake.” Mike breathed.
Anna looked at him and lowered her eyes. “ She was NOT a mistake.”
“ Well she certainly wasn’t planned.” He muttered.
“ Would you be quiet?” she demanded angrily.
“ I thought you wanted me here.”
“ Yeah for support, not to insult her. Jesus Christ, just shut your fucking mouth.”
Mike sighed heavily and leaned his head back against the chair. “ Fine.”
Laura raised a brow. “ Should I leave?”
“ No, stay where you are.” Anna ordered.
The girl sat back and crossed her arms as Anna continued. “ Okay, well you weren’t a mistake and you were not an accident. You were more like a surprise.”
Laura gave a small smile at her mother’s attempt not to hurt her feelings. “ Mom, would you just get to the name please?”
Anna sighed shakily and gathered her strength. She knew her daughter wasn’t going to like what was coming.
“ Okay…uh…your father is um…uh…”
Laura raised her eyes with expectation. Mike squirmed in the chair to get more comfortable and frowned. He really didn’t want to be here and hear the screaming. Anna lowered her eyes and braced herself.
“ Mike.”
Laura stared at her mother for countless seconds, taking in the name. A deep frown slowly began to form on her brow. Anna stared at her daughter and waited for her reaction. The girl rubbed her face nervously and looked down.
“ Y-your kidding right?” she demanded.
“ Yeah she was kidding. I’m not your father…good bye.” Mike stated sarcastically and stood up.
Anna gave him an icy glare. “ Sit down.” She ordered angrily.
Slowly, he sat down and avoided eye contact with everyone in the room. Laura glared at her mother in disbelief.
“ HE’S my father? THAT lunatic? What the hell!’ she shouted.
“ Laura calm down.”
“ No I won’t calm down. I can’t believe that…that…bastard is my father! How the hell could you have slept with such an uncaring man? My God, this is the worst day of my life!” she yelled and stood up, proceeding to her room. “ I hate this family!”
Anna cringed as the door slammed. Mike looked at Anna and frowned. She remained quiet and leaned her head in her hand.
“ Well…that was fun.” Mike muttered after a long while.

Anna lowered her eyes hopelessly and sighed. “ She hates me.”
“ No she doesn’t hate you, she hates me. I think we’ve made that clear.” He explained.
Anna looked at him and frowned. “ Well at leased she didn’t scream.”
Mike sat down beside Anna on the couch and grabbed her hand. She stared down at his hand in hers and sighed uneasily. “ Look, it’ll be fine. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“ I’m a horrible mother.” She muttered.
“ Because you told her who her father was?”
“ No because I slept with you.” She breathed.
He raised a brow, feeling rather insulted. “ Gee thanks.”
“ I just don’t understand why she hates you so much. I just keep getting this feeling that it has nothing to do with the fact that you’re a man.”
Mike frowned with thought. “ Maybe she’s just afraid to have a family.”
Anna looked deeply into his eyes. She hated the fact that he could be right. “ What the hell am I supposed to do?” she asked helplessly.
Mike wrapped his arm around her and she leaned her head on his shoulder. “ Well…nothing right now. Maybe you should just wait a while and then talk to her about this. Ask her why she hates me.”
Anna’s eyes fluttered to half a blink. “ Yeah I could do that.” She muttered.
“ And if she’s anything like me, she’ll calm down in a few hours and actually start to think about this.” He explained quietly in thought.
Anna lifted her head and stared at him. “ Does this mean you’re thinking about staying?”
“ No this means I have been thinking about staying for the past few hours and I AM staying.” He replied.
“ Really? Why?” she asked with confusion.
“ Because if I don’t, you’ll have a panic attack and probably commit suicide.” He smiled.
Anna smiled a little and leaned into his shoulder. “ Yeah, thirteen year olds drive me mad…were you like this when you were her age?” she asked.
“ No, I was worse.” He answered with a small chuckle.
Anna laughed and shook her head. “ I just hope she isn’t turning into you or we’d be in big trouble.”
“ Anna I hate to tell you this but I think she is turning into me…she’s already got the freaking out gene.” He muttered.
She sighed heavily and peered down at the carpet. “ Are you going to be able to accept her?”
“ I don’t know…maybe…that’s the point of getting to know her right?” he asked.
“ Yeah once that maternal instinct kicks in, you’ll be a great dad.” She smiled.
He lowered his eyes. “ Maternal instinct? I don’t think so.”
“ Come on Mike I know you have it somewhere in there. It’s just dormant at the moment. Besides, it’s going to come out sooner or later when you least expect it.” She explained.
“ I doubt it.” He muttered.
“ We’ll see…” she smiled.

~~OO WHY DOES SHE ACTUALLY HATE HIM???? what will happen in the next few days between Laura and Mike??? Will they continue to fight?????? Read on cuz there's more to come yay!! Thanks a bunch and please review!!:)~~
~~Okay...hope you enjoy this chappie!..tis kinda short...enjoy:)~~

Anna raced around the kitchen, searching for her purse while putting on her coat. She was already running late for work and if she didn’t leave soon she’d be fired.

Mike munched on his cereal and watched her rummage around the living room in a panic. He smiled to himself as he stared at the worried look on her face. Her cheeks were becoming red with frustration and annoyance.
“ Where the hell did I put the damn thing?” she demanded to herself and pushed her dark hair from her eyes.
Mike pointed to the couch and swallowed his food. “ You check under the couch?”
Anna blinked at him and frowned. “ Why the hell would it be there?”
“ I don’t know…that’s just the only place you haven’t looked yet.”
Laura walked into the kitchen and yawned, rubbing her messy hair. Anna looked at her and raised her eyes.
“ Laura, why aren’t you dressed for school?” she demanded.
The girl glanced at Mike and frowned. Why did he always have to be in the room? “ I couldn’t find any clean clothes.” She muttered sleepily, rubbing her eyes.
Anna sighed heavily and ran her fingers through her hair. “ That’s because your laundry is folded in the laundry room, go get dressed before I lose my job.” She ordered hastily.
Laura grumbled with irritation and disappeared into the laundry room. Mike rolled his eyes.
“ Does that girl ever do anything around here? My God she’s lazier than me.” He muttered.
Anna frowned and looked under the couch. “ Would you stop insulting my daughter and start helping me find my purse?” she demanded breathlessly.
Mike raised his eyes as Laura emerged from the laundry room.
“ Excuse me, you’re the one who lost it.” He explained.
Laura stood in the front hall and stared at herself in the mirror as she fixed her hair. Anna looked down at her watch and glared.
“ Shit I’m fucking late…Laura, I can’t get you to school like this.” She explained.
“ That’s alright, I’ll take the bus.” She muttered from the hall.
“ No, Mike’s driving you.”
Mike looked at Anna and frowned. “ Hey, hey, hey, I’m not a taxi service. She can take the bus.”
“ Not with the drug dealers.” Anna muttered and searched the pantries.
“ Mom, I’ll take my chances with the drug dealers.” Laura stated as she walked into the kitchen.
Anna glared and looked at both of them. “ Would you two knock it off? Mike, it’s not going to kill you to drive her to school.”
“ I disagree.” He answered and glared at his daughter.
Laura glared back at him and crossed her arms. Anna grabbed the keys to Mike’s Escalade and shoved them into his hand. “ Drive.” She ordered.
“ But Mom-.”
“ No buts…he’s driving you, end of discussion.” She stated and opened the closet.
She sighed with relief and pulled out the purse. “ There you are.”
Mike frowned as Laura stuck her tongue out at him. Of course he responded in the only mature way possible…by sticking out his tongue. Anna frowned and stared up in thought.
“ Shit, I have a late meeting tonight…Mike I need you to pick her up too…I’m sorry I know you both hate each other but it’s going to happen whether you like it or not.”
She ran up to Mike and kissed him on the head. “ Love you, bye.” She then ran up to Laura and kissed her on the cheek.
“ Love you bye.” Laura frowned and rubbed her cheek as Anna disappeared out the door. Mike rubbed his head and glared. They stared at each other with intense anger. This was going to be an interesting morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mike pulled out of the drive way and stared down the road, glistening with rain water from early that morning. Laura leaned against the door panel and glared. She didn’t like being in a car alone with him.
Maybe he’ll crash the damn truck and I won’t have to deal with him for the rest of my life.
Traffic that morning was busy, which made the drive to school seem even longer. They proceeded down the road silently, listening to the engine of the large Escalade hum.
Mike had no interest in speaking to her and no interest in even looking at her. All he had to do was drive her there and back. There was no need for irrelevant conversation.
Laura was thinking the exact same thing as the school came into view. Laura cringed in thought. Damn, I have to go home with him too…God kill me now.
Mike pulled the Escalade in front of the school and stopped. Laura glanced at him and opened the door. With a slam, she was gone up the large steps and into the building.
Mike stared at the school and frowned. He had gone to this school when he was younger. There were so many memories here…most of them good. He shook his head a little and pulled the gear into drive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ Hey man where the hell have you been?”

Mike rolled his eyes and sat down beside his friend in the studio. “ Long story Chaz.” He replied.
He had no intention of telling Chester about Laura. “Getting lucky with the lady?” he asked with a smile.
Mike flipped a few switches and pressed a few buttons, shaking his head.
“ It’s not like that.”
“ Come on man, you see Anna after fourteen years and you’re telling me that you guys never-.”
“ –No we didn’t…could we please get to work?” he asked calmly.
Chester shrugged and looked down at the board. “ Sure man, where do you want to start?”
“ I have a few things to edit.” Mike replied and quickly filled his mind with work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The afternoon was reaching its end. The two had been working on the editing process for quite a while. Finally, they were starting to make some progress after about three hours of Chester fooling around with the equipment.
Chester stared at the computer that Mike was working on and frowned. “ Are you going to get this done sometime today or are we going to be here until four?” he demanded.
Mike looked at the clock and shrugged. “ I’ll be done when I’m do-.”
He stopped as his eyes widened.
Laura, shit.
He stood up quickly and pulled on his jacket. “ Look man, I have something to do so I have to go…can you get the rest of this editing done?” he asked quickly.
Chester stared at him and raised a brow. “ Wow, you’ll really let me edit this?” he asked.
Mike frowned in thought. “ Wait…no, never mind…call Brad, he’ll finish it…see ya.” He called and disappeared out the door.
Chester glared and crossed his arms. “ I never get to edit.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mike stared at the timer and frowned with worry. Shit, its three thirty…Anna’s going to kill me.
He stopped the Escalade in front of the school and stared down at the steps. Laura looked up and glared at him, then slowly stood up. She had been waiting there for more than half an hour.
He swallowed hard as she entered the vehicle, slammed the door hard and crossed her arms. He sighed uneasily and bit his lip. Quickly, he pulled the Escalade into drive and pressed the gas.
Laura couldn’t stand the silence anymore so she pulled a CD from her bag. She inserted it into the CD player and Mike glanced down. A few seconds later, a loud booming drum sound vibrated the dash and the sound of guitars soon followed.
Laura glanced at Mike, thinking that for sure he’d get angry and throw the CD out the window.
So, the little monster has a taste for rock music. Mike reached for the volume and turned it…the opposite way that Laura would have suspected.
The window began to vibrated and shake. Laura raised a brow and looked at him. He kept his eyes on the road while sensing her look of question.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laura dumped her bag on the floor by her room and proceeded into the kitchen as Mike closed the front door. She walked towards the answering machine and watched the small light on it flash.
She pressed the button as Mike approached the machine, curious to hear the message.
“ Hey guys, it’s me. I’m sorry to have to tell you this but I have another late meeting tonight so I probably won’t be home until around eleven or so. I can already picture the glares forming on your faces.”
Mike looked at Laura and they exchanged glares.
“ So, Laura I want your homework finished before nine and I want you in bed before ten thirty. Mike…for the love of God…please be responsible…I know you have it in you. I want you to behave…Laura make sure he does this. I love you both and please try not to kill each other…bye.”
The message gave a long beep, signaling the end of the recording. Mike growled under his breath and walked into the living room, sitting down to watch TV. Laura frowned and glanced at Mike. She had to spend the entire night with this buffoon...

~~MORE TO COME I PROMISE...sorry for the shortness...anywhoo...hope you are enjoying this fic so far...please review thankees!!:)~~
Food For Thought
~~YAY THIS CHAPPIE IS UP!!..enjoy!!:)~~
The TV blared through the house as Laura stared into her text book. She usually liked to sit down at the centre island and do her homework because it was a quiet atmosphere.
Mike leaned back in the couch and flipped channels endlessly filling the house with half finished sentences and parts of commercial jingles. The young girl was getting quite frustrated with this and slammed her book shut.
“ Mike.” She called.
He ignored her and continued to watch the television.
“ Mike!” she yelled.
“ What?” he demanded with annoyance.
“ Could turn that down?” she asked.
He rolled his eyes and sighed. “ I’m trying to watch TV.”
“ No, you’re channel surfing and it’s driving me mad.”
“ So go to a different room.” He suggested.
Laura rubbed her face and sighed heavily with frustration. “ There’s no where else to go. I have to have this homework finished before nine or mom will have my ass.” She explained.
“ Then go to your room.” He stated.
“ I don’t have a desk down ther-.”
“ –For the love of God shut your fucking mouth!” he shouted.
The young girl stared at her supposed father with anger and disgust. There was no sense in arguing with him so she simply left and disappeared into her bedroom. Mike sighed with relief.
“ Finally.” He muttered and continued to flip channels.
A few hours later, Laura began to feel slightly hungry so she crept back upstairs, passing the living room. She glanced at Mike who was transfixed on something on the television. She paid no attention to the program and proceeded into the kitchen.
She opened the fridge and examined its contents before quickly closing it again. She then opened a few cupboards and searched around before finally giving up.
“ Mike.” She said loudly.
He growled angrily at her whining. Why, why tonight, why? “ What now?” he demanded.
“ I’m hungry.”
“ Then find some food.”
“ We don’t have any food.”
“ So what the hell do you want me to do about it?” he snapped.
Laura stared at him and swallowed hard. She was going to starve and it was all because this man couldn’t get off his ass and find something for her…or at leased give her money for a pizza. “ You’re a really lousy father, do you know that?” she asked quietly.
“ And you’re a really lousy daughter…are you finished whining?” he asked.
“ Mike, if mom finds out that you didn’t find me any food she’ll throw a shit fit. Your ass is going to be out on that street so fast that you won’t even see it coming.” She warned.
He sighed heavily and turned around to face her. “ Do you really think I care enough to actually take care of you? No. I’m just here as a babysitter before your mom gets home. So why don’t you crawl back into that messy room of yours and stay the hell out of my fucking sight?”
“ You’re a jackass.” She muttered.
“ What the hell are you still doing here?” he demanded loudly.
Laura growled and stormed into her room with a slam of the door. Mike returned to his original position on the couch and shook his head. She was getting on his nerves. Why should I stop my life because she’s hungry. God, find some fucking bread.

It wasn’t long before Laura came back upstairs, remembering her neglected homework. She sat down at the island and feverishly worked on it for a few hours. She had to get this done before nine. It was then that she realized that it was 10:55.
Great, mom’s going to kill me and it’s all that jackass’s fault.
Just as she had thought about that, the front door opened and she heard the jingling of keys. Laura stared down at her book and frowned. She still had a report to write. Anna walked into the kitchen and frowned, seeing her daughter still awake.
“ What are you doing baby? I thought I told you to be in bed before 10:30.”
Laura raised her eyes wearily and stared at her mother helplessly. She was glad she was home. “ I couldn’t concentrate…every time I started my homework the TV would get louder and louder.” She explained quietly.
Anna glanced into the living room and frowned with disappointment. She put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder and closed her books. “ What did you have for dinner?”
“ I managed to find some stale cereal in the pantry…” she replied.
“ So you didn’t actually eat any real food?”
“ Nope.”
Anna lowered her eyes with concern. “ Alright, get into bed and wait for me.” She whispered.
Laura nodded and disappeared into the depths of her room. Anna walked into the living room slowly while taking off her jacket. She threw it onto the couch and glared. Mike continued to stare at the TV so she grabbed the remote, turning it off. He looked up at her and frowned.
“ I was watching that.”
Anna crossed her arms and shook her head, looking around to find the right words to say. “ Michael…I don’t even know where to begin with you.” She said quietly.
“ What the hell did I do?”
“ Actually it’s more like ‘what didn’t’ you do.” She replied.
He lowered his eyes and sighed, preparing for the lecture.
“ I can’t believe you couldn’t even find her food…FOOD Mike. She’s your daughter for Christ’s sake.”
“ By blood only…I don’t consider her my daughter and probably never will.”
Anna stared at him in disbelief. “ It doesn’t matter what you consider her to be. She’s a thirteen year old child who needs to eat. What, you think she’ll get by with stale cereal?” she demanded angrily.
“ She’s old enough to find her own food.” He argued.
“ No Michael she’s not. I can’t believe you totally ignored her like that.”
“ I never ignored her…I simply didn’t pay attention to her. Am I just supposed to stop living my life to help her live her own?” he asked.
“ Yes!” she yelled back.
He lowered his head and sighed heavily. “ Okay so what? I screwed up.”
“ Yes Mike, you did screw up and now your daughter is hungry and tired. But you know, you can’t get away from your own life for five minutes to find her something to eat so I hope you’re happy.” She explained breathlessly.
He stared at the floor silently as she shook her head.
“ You know what? Maybe she is better off without you.” She muttered and walked into her daughter’s room.
Laura leaned her head down on the pillow and sighed comfortably. Anna shook her head and glared. “ He in deep shit?” she asked.
Her mother nodded a little. “ Damn right he’s in deep shit. I can’t believe he did that.”
Laura shrugged and lowered her eyes as her mother sat down on the bed. “ Is this why you hate him?”
The young girl stared at her mother and raised her eyes. “ Not entirely.”
“ Then what’s the entirety of your hate for him?” she asked.
Laura rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. “ Well I guess…there’s no point of getting attached to the guy if he’s never going to be around anyway.”
“ What do you mean?” Anna asked with confusion.
“ He’s in a popular band…he’ll be away on tours…album recordings, autograph signing, TV and radio interviews…I’m just merely isolating myself emotionally from him because I know that in the end he’s not going to be here for me anyway. Our family is always going to remain incomplete and empty.” She explained softly.
Anna stared at her daughter in thought. She had a very good point. Why get your hopes up if they’re just going to be crushed anyway? “ I see…” she answered.
“ My question is, how could you have possibly fallen in love with him? He’s a bastard.” Laura stated in question.
“ You just haven’t seen the other side of him, that’s all. He really is a caring and warm person with a lot of love for his family. Right now he’s just scared and confused and he doesn’t know what to do. He’s never taken care of a thirteen year old before and he’s not quite sure how to handle things. It’s kind of like a lack of maternal instinct…all parents go through it in the beginning but soon they find that instinct to take care of their young and eventually get this feeling of intense protection for their offspring.”
Laura raised a brow. “ Mom, you sound like the discovery channel.”
She lowered her eyes and pulled her daughter’s covers up to her neck. “ So sue me…go to sleep.” She muttered and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
“ Night mom.”
“ Night sweetie.”
Laura closed her eyes as her mother turned off her lamp. She slowly proceeded back upstairs to the living room and stopped as Mike got off the couch.
“ Anna-.”
“ –I don’t want to hear it.” She interrupted.
He ran a hand through his hair and sighed uneasily. “ Could I please say something?”
“ Talk all you want, you’re the big rapper.” She muttered and began to walk upstairs to her room.
Mike followed her and stopped in her doorway. “ I’m sorry for being an ass. It was totally inexcusable and I don’t deserve being here. I should just move out now.” He explained.
Anna raised her eyes at him. “ You’re not getting off that easily. You think that if you make one mistake you’re going to be kicked out of her life? Think again Mike. Parents make mistakes all the time…then they learn from them. This is a learning opportunity for you. From now on, you are going to take responsibility for her whether you like it or not.”
“ But Anna I don’t think I can do that…I’m not father material.” He whined.
She gave a small smile and nodded. “ You are Mike…you just don’t know it yet. Pretty soon you’ll embrace your maternal instincts and on that day you’ll be one step closer to being father material.” She smiled.
Mike lowered his eyes at her reference to one of his songs.
“ See what I just did there?” she asked.
“ Yeah, it was cute.” He muttered.
She gave him a small kiss on the cheek and grabbed her door. “ Good night Mikey.” She sang and shut the door.
He stared down the hall and frowned. “ Maternal instincts my ass.” He whispered and proceeded to his room.

~~HAHA...okay so..uh...there is more to come soon...i have school tomorrow so im kinda tired and need sleep so i hope u are enjoying this fic so far. Thank you for all the reviews, they are so awesome and i love how you guys think this fic is funny...cuz its supposed to be...:)....anywhoo...review please, thank you!!:)~~
Stressful Afternoon
~~YAY i finally decided to write chapter 7!! Hope you enjoy it!~~

Laura yawned and rubbed her eyes as she stomped upstairs from her room. The morning light forced her to squint as she entered the kitchen slowly, looking around. Her mother was no where to be seen.
In fact…there was no one to be seen. She frowned and sat down on the stool at the centre island and sighed heavily. Suddenly, someone came out of the laundry room and quickly closed the door. Laura lowered her eyes at the sight before her and leaned on the island.
“ Where’s mom?” she asked.
Mike treaded into the kitchen and opened the fridge. “ She went out.”
Laura stared at him for a long moment before continuing. “ Went out where?”
“ Errands.” He replied quickly and pulled a carton of milk out of the fridge, then slowly drank it down…of course without a glass.
The girl sighed with irritation as she watched him empty the carton down his throat. “ You’re disgusting.”
Mike belched and threw the carton into the garbage. “ Speaking of disgusting…there are some really dirty dishes in this sink and your mom wanted you to clean them before she comes home…you know, just to let you know.” He explained casually.
Laura blinked slowly and glanced at the sink. “ Why can’t you do them?”
“ Because I’m the adult.” He replied.
“ Sometimes I wonder.” She muttered and stood up, walking towards the sink. He stuck out his tongue and opened the newspaper. Laura stared into the murky water and cringed. She hated doing the dishes. Every time she’d run her hand down the stainless steel basin, she’d end up touching something squishy or fuzzy or waxy.
It was a terrible chore and she would much rather clean her room ten times than do dishes. Laura reached into the greenish gray water and frowned with disgust. She ran her hand along the bottom of the basin, trying to find the forks and knives that were strewn all around.
Suddenly she felt something sharp poke her palm and she thought nothing of it. She was always sticking herself with forks. Something cold ran up her palm and she frowned. The water was warm yet there was something cold pressing down against her hand. It didn’t take her long to realize that the coolness was becoming more and more painful and the water began to change into a dark crimson color.
She stared down in horror through the reddening sink. She stared down at the large butcher knife, covered in blood.
“ Oh shit.” She breathed.
“ What?” Mike asked with disinterest as he continued reading the paper.
“ Blood…my blood…everywhere…I’m bleeding…ow…ow…ow…ow.” She felt her face paling as she slowly removed her shaking hand from the sink.
Blood dripped down into the water as she clasped her hand around the wound. Mike turned around quickly and his eyes widened at the counter being covered in blood.
“ Christ.” He muttered and opened the cupboard as quick as he could.
She stared down at her hand, watching the blood ooze from the laceration.
“ It hurts.” She muttered through a painful breath, feeling herself becoming light headed.
“ Juts hold on a sec.” Mike stated and pulled the first aid kit out of the cupboard.
“ What are you doing?” she asked shakily.
“ Stopping the bleeding.” He answered and opened the kit, pulling out gauze and medical tape.
He then grabbed a towel that had been hanging from the handle of the oven and handed it to her. “ Put pressure on your hand.” He ordered.
She grabbed the towel weakly and pressed it against her wound, hissing in pain. He grabbed the bottle of alcohol and opened it. Laura’s eyes widened with panic.
“ No damn way Mike…that’s going to kill me.” She warned.
“ Do you want to get an infection?” he asked.
She lowered her eyes as he dabbed some alcohol onto the gauze filling it lightly and watching it absorb. He slowly pulled the towel off of her hand and placed it on the counter. He examined the cut and frowned, watching it ooze. He reached out for her hand and she pulled away quickly. He stared at her and blinked slowly.
“ Laura, you’re bleeding. You have to trust me.”
“ Why should I?” she demanded.
“ Because if I don’t clean this cut and wrap it up you’ll be in the emergency room getting treated for gangrene. Is that really what you want?” he asked calmly.
She stared at him uneasily.
“ Look, I’m not going to hurt you okay? Just trust me.” He stated softly.
Something about his voice put her at ease slightly and she held out her hand. He grabbed it gently and hovered the gauze over the laceration. Laura braced herself as he sighed.
“ This might sting a little.” He warned carefully and pressed the gauze to her hand.
She winced with pain as the alcohol sank into her cut. He wiped it gently until the cut was rid of drying blood. He threw out the used gauze and grabbed a clean piece from the kit. She watched him intently as he pressed the new gauze her to hand and began to slowly tape it there.
She could feel the immense pressure of the tape as he wrapped it around tightly, stopping the blood flow. Her fingers throbbed heavily as he finished taping. She continued to watch him as he quickly put away the medical supplies, grabbing a bottle of Acetaminophen.
“ How’s the hand feeling?” he asked as he popped open the bottle, pouring two pills into his hand.
She clenched her fingers slightly and moved her hand around. “ It kind of hurts.”
“ Here, take these.” He stated and placed the pills into her other hand.
She stared down at the pills and quickly threw them into her mouth, swallowing with a glass of water that Mike had handed her. When she had swallowed, he took the glass and placed it in the sink.
“ Go downstairs and get some rest, you lost a lot of blood.” He explained softly.
Why is he being so nice to me? I thought he hated me and now he fixes my hand and tells me to get some rest? She stared at him with confusion and slight relief. “ But what about-.”
“ –I’ll finish the dishes. Don’t worry about it.” He answered.
She stared into his soft brown eyes, an almost perfect reflection of her own. “ Thanks.” She said quietly.
“ No problem.” He replied almost as quiet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anna walked quickly into the kitchen and flipped through mail. Mike drained the sink and grabbed a wash cloth. He still hadn’t gotten rid of all the blood yet.
“ Hey Mike, how was your morning?” she muttered casually.
“ Well…it was certainly interesting.” He answered.
She looked up from the bills and smiled. When she noticed the red splotches on the cloth he was holding, she visibly paled and her smile faded. “ Mike, why is there blood all over my counter? Oh God, what the hell happened?” she asked with panic and rushed over to him.
He wiped up the remaining blood and threw the cloth into the sink, running cold water onto it. “ Relax Anna-.”
“ –Oh my God, was it Laura? Is she hurt? What happened? Where is she?”
Mike frowned at her, trying to understand her garbled words of panic and fear.
“ She cut herself with the butcher knife by accident while she was doing the dishes-.”
“ –What!” Anna yelled with horror.
Mike gave a weak smile. “ Anna its okay, she’s fine.”
“ Where the hell where you when this was happening? Oh God don’t tell me you were watching TV while my baby sliced herself open!”
Mike put his hands on her shoulders and tried to calm her down. “ Anna, stop.” He ordered.
She panted with panic and stared into his calm eyes, closing her mouth to let him speak. “ I was right here the whole time. She reached into the sink and didn’t see the knife. I grabbed some gauze and medical tape from the kit and cleaned up her wound. She’s fine okay? She’s downstairs watching TV in her room.” He explained softly.
Anna sighed with relief and lowered her eyes. “ Oh…good...”
“ See? Everything’s fine.” He replied.
She nodded a little and stared at him. “ I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to get angry with you.”
“ Anna its fine. You were scared.”
“ Were you?” she asked suddenly.
He stared at her blankly, not expecting that question. “ Um…what?” he asked.
Anna gave a weak smile as he let go of her. “ Were you scared when she cut herself?”
He stared at her in thought. He had never actually thought about that. “ Uh…I don’t really know…I was busy tending to her wound.” He answered.
“ But you were concerned right?” she asked.
“ I-I guess…”
“ Aw that’s so adorable!” she squealed.
Mike raised a brow as she grabbed his hands. “ How?”
“ You were concerned about the well being and safety of your daughter! Do you know what this means?” she asked with excitement.
“ Uh no but I suppose you’re going to tell me.” He replied carefully.
“ This means that your maternal instinct is finally kicking in!” she shouted happily.
He lowered his eyes and pulled his hands away from her. “ Anna I cleaned up her wound…it’s not like I jumped in front of a bullet.” He explained.
“ But you helped her and you were concerned and she’s okay. Aw you’re such a great dad.” She whined with adoration.
Mike raised his eyes. “ Dad…” he stated shakily.
Anna smiled and hugged him. “ I’m so proud of you Michael!” she squeaked.
He stared blankly across the room as he thought about what she had just said. This whole ‘dad’ thing had never really sunk into his mind until now. His heart began to race with panic and fear.
I can’t be a dad…I’m too young…oh my God…no…no…no...Oh my God…I’m a dad.
Anna smiled and pulled away from him slowly, staring into his blank eyes. “ Are you okay?” she asked.
“ Uh…not really…” he replied weakly.
“ What, you never actually thought about the fact that you’re a father?” she asked.
“ No…I mean I know I am but…I just never really…this is stressful.” He muttered.
Anna chuckled. He was so adorable when he was nervous. “ I think you should go rest for a while.”
“ Good idea.” He answered and walked towards the couch.
Anna smiled and decided to go see Laura, to make sure she was alright. She walked downstairs slowly and saw her daughter sitting up against the headboard, staring at the TV.
“ Hey.” Anna stated casually.
“ Hey mom, you’re back.” Laura muttered and turned down the volume a little.
“ Yeah I am. I heard about the hand…are you okay?” she asked with concern. Laura nodded and looked down at the bandage.
“ Yeah I’m fine. I should have looked where I was putting my hand.” She stated quietly.
“ Well now you’ve learned your lesson. Does it hurt?”
“ A bit.”
“ You should take some-.”
“ –Acetaminophen, yeah I know…Mike already gave me some.” The girl interrupted.
Anna smiled a little. “ He did? Boy I feel kind of useless.” She chuckled. Laura gave a small smile and stared at her mother.
“ Don’t worry, I appreciate the support Mom.”
“ Are you glad he helped you?” she asked.
Laura looked down in thought. “ Well…if he hadn’t of been there I probably would have lost a lot more blood than I had.” She answered.
Anna nodded and crossed her arms. “ So he’s not such a jackass after all is he?”
“ Wrapping me up doesn’t make him my father and it doesn’t mean I have to like him for it.” She replied.
“ I understand…” Anna said quietly.
“ Good…besides, I could have handled myself…I didn’t need him that much.” Laura muttered.
Her mother smiled at her knowing that she was thankful that Mike was there. “ Alright…well if you need anything just shout okay?”
“ Sure.”
“ Next time be careful…you wouldn’t want to stress out your father like that again.”
“ He was stressed?” She demanded.
Anna nodded. “ Yep, and concerned about you. Not that he’ll admit it or anything.” She answered.
Laura stared at her in thought. Maybe Mike wasn’t so bad after all. But this was only one event. That doesn’t mean he’s always going to be nice to me. I still don’t trust him. “ I’ll come upstairs later.” She explained.
Anna walked towards the door. “ Alright…we’ll be watching a movie if you want to join us.”
“ What movie?”
“ Well you’re just going to have to come and see when we start it.” She replied with a weak smile.
She’s trying to get me to spend time with him. How lame is that? “ Fine.” She breathed and sat back.
Anna walked upstairs and she heard her door close.
I’m only doing this for Mom…
~~AWWWW she might be starting to like having Mike around..how cute. Anywhoo...MORE TO COME so read on to find out what happens during the movie. Hope you enjoyed this chappie and please please review. Thank you soooo much!!!!!:)~~

Brand New
~~Hey everyone, tis me again, just thought i'd go crazy and write another fic to keep myself busy...hope you enjoy this one...it might be kind of boring but...oh well, we'll see. Thank you and Enjoy!:)~~
The hustle and bustle of a busy day was something not uncommon to the Californian people as they began their days quickly. Through the large trees and heat soaked parking lots stood a small coffee shop already full to it’s capacity with impatient clients.
Anna had been living in this town for almost fourteen years after moving back from her hometown in southern Nevada. She liked the Californian vibe, the hot afternoons and the cool shady nights.
“ One large Mocha.” She ordered quickly, feeling a crowd of people gathering behind her.
The woman behind the counter rapidly filled a large cup and handed it to her demanding $2.75. Anna placed her money on the counter and immediately pulled away from the large crowd.
If there was one thing about California, it was the large crowds at ten in the morning. She felt something hot drip onto her wrist and she looked down, only to smack into something hard.
Dammit, I’m so clumsy.
She glanced up, realizing she had smacked into a tall young man, dressed rather darkly for the heat.
“ I’m sorry.” She muttered and wiped her wrist.
She began to walk away when the man called to her.
“ Anna?”
She turned around slowly and stared at him. There was something vaguely familiar about him, but she just couldn’t quite put her finger on it. His black spiked hair accented his rather tanned skin and brought out his dark chocolate eyes perfectly.
“ Do I know you?” she asked, slightly confused.
The man walked past the crowd and stopped a few feet away from her. “ Don’t tell me you already forgot about your high school boyfriend. Jesus, it’s only been fourteen years.” He explained, feeling rather insulted.
Anna stared into his eyes and searched the back of her brain for any recollection of this man. Suddenly, her eyes brightened in realization. “ Mike!” she stated with surprise.
He gave a small grin and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “ So you DO remember me. Gosh I feel so loved.” He explained.
“ Mike, I’m sorry…it’s been a long time…I mean, I’ve been away-.”
“ –In Nevada, yeah I know. So what are you doing back?” he asked casually.
Anna looked around and slowly led him to a secluded booth at the back of the shop. “ Well, I got a job here in California…chief editor of the newspaper.” She answered as they sat down.
Mike raised his eyes and nodded a little. “ Sounds like fun.”
Anna lowered her eyes. “ Bullshit…all I do is sit at a desk everyday and answer phone calls, making sure the printers don’t stop.” She explained.
He gave a small smile as she sipped her coffee.
“ So…you’ve turned into a rather…good looking…man.” She stated.
“ What, I wasn’t good looking when I was sixteen?” he asked.
Anna gave a small smirk. “ Well you didn’t look like this.”
“ Is that a good thing?” he asked quietly.
“ Maybe…” she replied.
He gave a small chuckle and leaned back in the booth. Anna stared at him, remembering all the fun times she had had with him in high school. All the dances, assemblies, pizza after school, walks through the park…every memory was a good one. Well, except when we broke up, which was all my fault because I had to move away…
“ So Mike…what do you do for a living?” she asked casually.
He stared at her blankly for countless seconds. “ Are you serious?” he asked.
Anna frowned slightly at his remark. “ Of course I’m serious.”
“ What’s it like living in a pizza box?” he asked with a grin.
Anna raised a brow. “ Excuse me?”
“ How could you not know what I do for a living?”
“ Well it’s not like I’ve been hanging around you for the past fourteen years.” She replied slowly.
Mike sighed heavily and rubbed his hair, causing his spikes to ruffle between his fingers. “ Linkin Park ring a bell?” he asked.
She stared at him and blinked with confusion. “ Sort of…isn’t that a band?”
Mike almost smiled. He couldn’t believe she didn’t know about his band. “ Uh yeah…and I’m in it.” He replied, while trying not to laugh.
She stared at him for a long moment then slowly lowered her eyes.
“ I’m sorry…it’s just that I don’t really pay much attention to MTV.” She answered apologetically.
Mike smiled at her. She was so cute when she was blushing. “ That’s alright. Like us millionaires always say, Forgive and Forget.”
“ Mike, everyone says that.”
“ Yeah but it’s more special coming from a millionaire.” He smiled.
“ You haven’t changed a bit Mike. You’re still immature.” She laughed.
Just then, a girl, about thirteen years old walked up to the booth and frowned, slowly looking at Mike. He frowned a little as she looked away from him, and began to address Anna.
“ Can we go now?” she demanded.
Her long jet black hair danced under the air conditioners as her dark brown eyes scanned the woman.
“ Yeah, in a minute, can’t you see that I’m in the middle of a conversation?” she asked quietly.
The girl rolled her eyes and sighed. “ Mom, I have been waiting for you outside for fifteen minutes. How long does it take to get a coffee?” she demanded.
Mike’s ears perked as he stared at Anna in question. Mom?
Anna glanced at him, then looked back at her daughter. “ Well I’m just catching up with an old friend.” She replied calmly.
The girl looked at Mike and her eyes narrowed. Somehow he figured that she didn’t really like her mother speaking to strange men in coffee houses. “ Who the hell is he?” she demanded.
“ Laura!” Anna hissed.
“ What? It was an honest question.” She stated in defense.
Anna grabbed her arm and pulled her towards her. “ Mike, I’m sorry…she’s an extremely rude little brat with no manners.”
He stared at Anna, unable to speak.
“ Can I go?” Laura demanded impatiently.
Anna handed her the keys and pushed her away. “ Don’t you dare drive off.” She warned.
“ Relax Mom, I wouldn’t want to be caught dead driving that shitty car.”
Anna lowered her eyes at her daughter’s language. “ Go.” She ordered.
“ I’m gone.” Laura sighed and exited the shop.
Anna rubbed her head and leaned on the table. “ God, she’s driving me mad. So, where were we?” she breathed.
Mike stared at her and frowned in question. She noticed his quizzical look and raised a brow.
“ What?”
He swallowed hard before replying. “ D-daughter?” he asked.
Anna looked at him, then glanced at the door with realization. “ Oh God, I’m sorry…you didn’t know…wow I guess I should have told you.” She explained in thought.
“ Yeah…when the hell did THAT happen?” he asked.
“ Oh…well…uh…when I had left for Nevada…it was because…I was pregnant.” She stated slowly.
Mike raised his eyes with surprise. “ And you didn’t tell me?”
“ Look, I was scared and I didn’t know what to do so my parents brought me down to Nevada so I could raise her in peace.”
“ Who’s her father?” he asked quickly, not realizing that it could have been the slightest bit rude to even ask that question.
Anna frowned a little, watching his dark eyes. “ It’s complicated…look, why don’t we catch up and talk at my house…say, tomorrow, two o’clock?” she suggested.
Mike blinked slowly and nodded. “ Sure.”
“ Alright then.” She answered and wrote her address down on the back of his hand. He glanced at it as she stood up. “ Mike…it was nice seeing you again.” She smiled weakly.
“ Yeah, you too.” He replied softly.
He watched her walk out of the shop and he frowned in thought. He couldn’t believe he was seeing her after all these years. She hadn’t even bothered to say good bye to him when she had left for Nevada. He had no idea she had been pregnant. A part of him still loved her greatly…but the other part felt slightly empty and rejected.
He felt his heart quicken as he thought about tomorrow. There was so much to talk about. He was also wondering who she could have possibly slept with after they had broken up fourteen years ago.
Oh well, I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.
~~Hope you enjoyed the first chappie, more to come, losta drama and such...please review and tell me what you thought, THANK YOU!!:)~~

Back Again
~~Yay 2nd chappie...hope this fic isn't too boring so far. Thank you for the reviews...they are totally awesome!...Enjoy!~~

Mike stood at the door for what seemed like hours until finally it opened slowly. He was greeted by that same young girl. Her dark eyes burned into him with question and curiosity.
“ Wrong house buddy.” She muttered.
Anna glared and came up behind her daughter, placing her hands on her shoulders. “ Laura what have I told you about addressing people that way?”
“ That it’s rude an inconsiderate but also extremely fun.” She smiled.
Anna lowered her eyes. “ Out.” She ordered.
Laura sighed heavily, taking one last look at Mike and vanishing into her room. Mike cleared his throat and stared into her dark blue eyes.
“ Does your daughter hate me or something?” he asked.
Anna rolled her eyes and pulled him into the house, closing the door behind them. “ She’s just not used to me speaking with men…she thinks we’ll date, then fall in love, get married and soon her happy little world of just one parent will turn into two.” She explained quietly.
“ So, basically she’s afraid of having a man around the house.”
“ She’s never lived with a man and I think it scares the hell out of her…besides, she likes to be independent…she says she doesn’t need a father.” Anna explained quickly and led him into the large kitchen.
Mike sighed lightly and leaned on the centre island. “ Does she know who her father is?” he asked curiously.
Anna frowned a little and sat down at the island. “ No, I never told her. She’s better off not knowing.”
“ Why’s that? He a creep or something?”
Anna stared into his dark eyes and sighed uneasily. “ No…he’s a very good person and I cared deeply for him…still care deeply for him.” She explained softly.
Mike noticed how quiet she had become. Perhaps she really didn’t want to talk about this. But as always, Mike’s curious side took over. “ So did all of this happen before or after we broke up?” he asked.
“ Actually I broke up with you because this happened.” She answered cautiously.
Mike frowned slightly. “ You mean you cheated on me and got knocked up?”
“ No, I never cheated on you.” She replied quickly.
“ Then how the hell could you have gotten pregnant if you weren’t with any guys…wait…did you get raped or something?”
Anna smiled a little and ran her fingers through her long dark hair. “ No Mike, I wasn’t raped.”
He stared at her with a visible look of confusion. Anna figured she should give him some time to think about this, after all…it was extremely confusing. “ Look, how about we talk about this later? Right now I just want to catch up with an old friend.”
“ Old?” he asked with an arched brow.
Anna smiled and walked towards him. “ Thirty is very old.” She breathed.
He chuckled and shook his head. “ I still feel like I’m twenty one…besides, I should…I’m pampered like a millionaire.” He explained.
“ That’s because you ARE a millionaire dumbass.” Anna snorted and ruffled his hair with her hand.
He lowered his head and furrowed his brow. “ Never touch a rock star’s hair.”
“ Aw but your hair is so soft and so pointy.” She giggled. He smiled and shook his head.
“ Anna…I’ve missed you.” He said quietly.
She stared into his soft brown eyes and blushed. He still had that innocent look that she could never get over.
“ I’ve missed you too…and I’m sorry I had to leave you. You would have freaked out knowing I was pregnant…besides, I couldn’t stay in school and have all those people judging me. Home schooling in a different state was the only way out and I hope you understand that.” She explained lightly.
“ I do…I just wished you would have at leased said good bye…you know I loved you.” He answered softly.
She cocked her head and wrapped her arms around his neck, peering deeply into his eyes. The moment she had seen him at the coffee house, she had this feeling of electricity zapping at her heart. It was like they were close again after being so far apart for fourteen years.
“ Loved me?” she asked.
Mike stared at her as his heart paced rapidly. The first time he had felt this feeling was when he had first met her, back in high school. He never forgot those eyes when he first looked at her, asking what was for homework. She was always so kind and so warm…someone he had seen possibly spending the rest of his life with. But then she had left just as he was starting to feel something strong for her.
“ Well…seeing as though we were together in the past…I used the past tense.” He explained.
Anna gave a small grin. “ Do you still love me?” she asked curiously.
He squinted slowly and sighed with thought. “ Uh…maybe…do you still love me?” he asked.
Anna giggled and looked to the side briefly, then looking back at him.
“ Yes.”
Mike gave a weak smile and sighed heavily. “ Then I still love you…even though you broke up with me after getting pregnant, which I might add seems a little suspicious to a boyfriend.” He explained.
“ Don’t worry…I’ll explain everything soon…I just need time.”
“ Time for what?” he asked.
Anna sighed uneasily and rubbed his neck with her hand gently. “ Time to get to know you again.”
“ You already know me…nothing’s changed.” He explained.
“ I hope not.” She replied quietly.
“ What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked with interest.
“ Nothing…I’m just glad I found you.” She smiled.
He stroked her cheek gently and nodded. “ Same here.”
Before they knew it, they were pressed into a loving kiss, something they had both missed for a long time. It felt good to get back this feeling of love…even though they had never lost it. Anna took in his scent as all the memories came flooding back. They had shared many kisses back in high school but none was as needed as this one. It felt like a great relief to Mike. He had always thought and wondered what had happened to Anna…why she left and why she never told him. But now she would get a chance to explain everything to him…everything.
A thought that still frightened her even to this day. She didn’t know how he was going to react to finding out he had a daughter, and for this long. She was afraid, but she was also hoping that Mike was still as understanding and calm as he had always been.
“ Oh God.”
They pulled away from the kiss quickly, hearing that soft and slightly annoyed voice. Anna cleared her throat and looked at her daughter with a reddening face.
“ Hey Laura…what’s up?”
Laura’s eyes darkened as she furrowed her brow and crossed her arms.
“ Catching up with an old BOYFRIEND huh?”
“ Uh…how much of that did you see?” Anna asked nervously.
“ Enough to know that you two are probably in love.” She grumbled angrily.
“ Well you’re right.” She replied quickly.
Mike looked down and swallowed hard. This was slightly embarrassing.
Laura raised her eyes with worry. “ What? Mom, you can’t be in love…you haven’t even been out with any guys.”
“ Yes I have.” She argued.
“ Yeah, twice doesn’t count.” Laura snapped.
Mike ran a hand through his hair nervously, feeling like he was intruding.
“ Well sweetie, you’re just going to have to accept the fact that I’m in love with him.”
“ But…you guys broke up like fourteen years ago.” Laura whined.
“ And now we’re back together.”
“ In five minutes?” she demanded.
Anna sighed uneasily and looked at Mike. He was speechless and probably a little embarrassed. She just couldn’t explain to her daughter how much she had missed him and how bad she had felt for leaving him without even a single good bye. She still loved him and had always loved him…which was probably why she had never gone out with many guys over the years, that and because her daughter didn’t like it.
Laura didn’t really trust new men.
“ Laura, its complicated…right now I want you downstairs cleaning that room of yours.” She ordered quickly.
Her daughter grumbled with frustration and left the room in a huff. Anna sighed with relief as the door slammed.
“ Mike, I’m sorry.” She apologized.
“ Anna it’s okay. It’s not like I haven’t been caught kissing a woman before.” He smiled.
She raised a brow and gave a small smile. “ Alright well I have a question for you.”
“ Shoot.”
“ How long is your band in town?”
Mike stared up in thought. “ Well we’re working on the new album…so probably about a month or so…why?”
Anna looked down in thought. “ You wanna stay here for a while?”
“ With you and that little monster?” he asked with uncertainty.
“ Monster?” she demanded.
“ Anna no offense but her father was probably a very rude and insulting person…I think that’s where she gets it from.”
Anna stared at him for a long moment. “ Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“ Actually I would.” He smiled.
She smacked him in the stomach and he winced slightly. “ Get your bags before I change my mind.” She muttered.
“ Isn’t your daughter going to be very pissed that a man is staying here?” he asked.
“ Yes…but she is going to have to get over this fear of men. She should have known her mother would be falling in love with a hot guy in the near future.” She explained with a sideways smile.
Mike laughed and nodded. “ Hot huh?”
“ Sure.” She answered.
“ You should see me on stage.” He smiled.
Anna rolled her eyes. “ Yeah whatever…and Mike? I want to talk to you about something later.”
“ Alright, just let me know.” He answered casually and walked towards the door.
She smiled to herself as she watched him leave the house so he could get his bags. If only he knew that that rude little brat downstairs was his daughter. She sighed heavily and shook her head. She’d tell him soon…she had too. She hoped he wouldn’t freak out but knowing Mike…he would most definitely freak out.

~~OK...just getting the ball rolling with this chappie, more to come i promise...ooooo will she tell him or will she be too freaked out???? Hahaha...review please, Thank you! :)~~

Truth Be Told
~~Okay, i wrote this chappie in like a half an hour so i hope it's interesting...enjoy!!:)~~

“ Mom I’m going out to a movie with some friends.” Laura announced as she entered the dimly lit kitchen.
Anna leaned on the centre island and glanced at her watch. It was around nine thirty. “ Which friends?”
“ The good ones.” Laura replied, knowing her mother didn’t like it when she hung out with her pot smoking buddies.
Anna sighed heavily and nodded. “ Alright, be back before midnight.”
Mike walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Laura stared at her mother with expectation. Anna looked at her and raised a brow.
“ What?”
Mike pulled a carton of milk out of the fridge and popped it open, drinking it down. He wiped his mouth and frowned. He looked at the two women who were staring at each other.
“ Anna, I believe she’s asking for money.” He suggested.
She turned her head and frowned at him. “ Mike, use a glass.”
“ Yeah so make with the money and why the hell is he still here?” Laura demanded with confusion and annoyance.
Anna turned back to her and sighed heavily. “ He’s going to be staying here for a while, while his band is in town.” She explained casually.
“ Here.” Laura stated and glanced at Mike.
“ Yes, here.” Anna answered.
“ You’re kidding right?”
“ No I’m not kidding so get used to it.”
Laura sighed with irritation and crossed her arms. “ What band?”
“ Linkin Park.”
“ Linkin who?” she asked.
Mike frowned and put the milk back in the fridge. “ Anna, your first house was a pizza box wasn’t it?” he asked.
Anna rolled her eyes at him as he closed the fridge.
“ Well I’m just saying that maybe you should force your kid to watch more TV instead of studying all the time.” He suggested.
“ Mike, that’s the dumbest thing I have ever heard.” Anna replied in a low tone.
“ Okay…so what’s so special about his band?” Laura asked.
“ It’s popular.” Mike answered.
The young girl stared at him and raised a brow. “ What, that screaming, rapping shit?”
“ Excuse me?” he demanded.
“ Yeah I’ve heard of you guys. One of my friends is obsessed with your band…actually…not your band, more like you…although I don’t know why. I don’t see what’s so great about you, you can’t even use a glass.” She explained.
Anna raised her eyes with surprise. She was taken by her daughter’s rudeness, although she had expected it.
“ I can so use a glass, I just prefer not to. It gets in the way.” Mike argued.
“ Either that or you’re just an immature excuse for a man.”
Anna glared. “ Laura, go to your movie.” She ordered quickly to end the already starting fight.
“ But I need money.” She whined.
Anna sighed heavily and pulled out her wallet, handing her forty dollars. “ Go, behave.”
“ I will.” She sighed and left the house.
Mike stared at Anna as she turned around. “ Mike, you don’t argue with a thirteen year old. That’s how she learns to manipulate. I’ll give you some sound advice, ignore her.”
“ But she’s so whiny and irritating. How can I ignore that?” he demanded.
Anna rubbed her head and frowned. “ You know what, the end.” She muttered.
“ Fine…oh yeah, didn’t you have something you wanted to tell me?” he asked as he approached the other side of the island.
Anna’s eyes lifted in realization. “ Right…yeah I did…actually it’s more of a question…actually I need some advice.”
“ Yeah sure.” He replied and leaned on the island.
She sighed uneasily and crossed her arms. “ I want to tell her father about her…but I don’t exactly know how to do that without him freaking out.”
“ Are you going to phone him?”
“ Yeah something like that.”
Mike nodded in thought. “ Well I’d say get right to the point, quick and easy.”
“ But what if he’s someone who gets scared easily?” she asked nervously.
“ Then try to remain as calm as possible and if that doesn’t work, start the water works. Men can’t handle the water works.” He explained with a grin.
Anna gave a weak smile as her heart raced. “ Can I ask you something?”
“ Sure.” He replied calmly.
Anna rubbed her finger on the island and watched it leave a small smudge mark on the wood. “ What would you do if you had a thirteen year old daughter that you never knew about?” her words were shaky and uncertain.
Mike raised his eyes, a little surprised by the question. “ Well you’d probably see a Mike shaped hole through the door.” He chuckled.
Anna stared at him with lowered eyes. “ Seriously though.”

“ Seriously…I’d be freaked…a little nervous…probably pass out…and I would probably sit down and think about it for a while.” He explained.
Anna sighed a little out of relief. “ Okay…well I need to tell you something…uh…something kind of important that I’ve been meaning to tell you for a long time.” She said cautiously.
“ Okay go ahead.” He replied softly.
Anna nodded a little and looked around the kitchen. Where to begin? Where to begin?
“ Remember in high school when we went out that night at the club…you know, the time when we got in with fake I.Ds?” she asked.
Mike nodded and let her continue, remembering all the fun times he had had with her.
“ Well…we had drunk a lot of beer…like…A LOT of beer and we were kind of wasted, right?”
“ Right.” He replied, trying to figure out what she was getting at.
“ And then we went back to your place and kinda…you know…had uh…uh…”
“ More beer?”
“ Sex.” She stated quickly.
Mike raised his eyes and cleared his throat. “ Uh…okay…yeah…I guess I remember that.”
“ Well do you remember the next couple of days how I was eating a lot and then throwing up?”
Mike frowned with thought and nodded. “ Yeah, what’s your point?”
She stared at him and lowered her eyes. I can’t believe he’s not getting this. “ And you didn’t think that was just the slightest bit odd after that night at your house?” she asked quietly.
“ No…must have been alcohol poisoning…right?” he asked.
Anna swallowed hard. Oh my God he’s an idiot. “ Uh, no Mike, it wasn’t because of the alcohol.” She answered with a nervous laugh.
“ Flu?” He asked.
Anna rubbed between her eyes and sighed heavily. “ Okay…let’s start over because obviously you’re not getting this…we had sex…”
“ Okay.” He answered slowly, slightly confused.
“ Then I began having pregnant like symptoms.” She stated.
He stared at her and nodded slowly. “ Okay…”
Anna gave him a blank stare. “ Are you not following me or something?” she asked desperately.
“ Well Anna I just don’t know what this has to do with anyt-.” He stopped suddenly, feeling the words choke back down his throat. She watched his eyes become wider and wider; his face became pale.
“ But…you…we…”
“ Get there faster!” she yelled.
“ You were pregnant?” he yelled with shock.
“ Yes Mike I was pregnant.”
“ Because of us?”
“ Yes because of us.” She replied.
He rubbed his face lightly and cleared his throat. “ Uh…so she’s…uh…”
“ Yes Mike…she’s your daughter.” Anna explained slowly.
He stared at her and began to feel light headed. “ I think I’m going to throw up.” He moaned.
“ Mike, do you need to sit down?” she asked cautiously with worry.
“ Yeah.” He replied weakly and collapsed into a chair by the kitchen table. She walked over to the table and sat down near him. He leaned his head into his hand and leaned his elbow on the table. This was all so much information to take in…and one hell of a shock.
“ How the hell did this happen?” he demanded.
Anna frowned at the question. It seemed pretty simple. “ Do I need to explain the birds and bees to you?”
“ No I mean, how COULD this have happened? We used protection.”
“ Mike that only works 97% of the time.”
“ What!” he yelled.
“ You didn’t know that?” she asked.
“ No I did not know that! They should put that on the damn box!”
“ They do!” she shouted.
“ No they don’t!”
“ Yes they do.” She stated through her teeth.
Mike frowned at her in thought. “ Oh yeah…”

“ Look, I’m not asking that you take full responsibility of her. I just want you to know what options you have. I mean, you have a daughter now…there are some things to think about…like what you want to do.”
“ Like get the hell out of here? Yeah perfect idea.” He answered breathlessly, still recovering from the shock.
Anna frowned at him. “ You’re going to leave? I thought you said you’d sit down and think about this.”
“ Yeah thinking done. It’s been nice chatting with you.” He muttered and stood up.
“ Michael.” She stated in disbelief as she stood up.
“ Anna, do you have any idea what this means? I have a band okay. I can’t be here all the time with some teenage brat and record an album and go on tours at the same time. This is impossible! And there is school and books and clothes to pay for…I can’t do that.”
“ Mike I never said you had to pay for anything-.”
“ –What about the guys? They’ll think I’ve gone insane. One minute I’m this single guy and the next I have a girlfriend and a daughter that I didn’t know about. What is the press going to think? How is the media going to handle this? How am I going to handle this? I’ll lose fans…money…my band…everything!”
Anna crossed her arms and lowered her eyes. She knew this would happen. He was only thinking about himself and his band when right now there were other priorities, like, telling Laura who her father was…which could be worse because she might scream and yell and slam doors.
“ Mike, you need to calm down.”
“ I’m calm enough. I’ll go pack.” He stated and began to walk towards the stairs.
Anna frowned and tried to keep her tears from falling. “ Mike…please, just stay for at leased a week. Try to see what kind of daughter you have before you completely abandon her.”
“ I’m not abandoning her…I never knew she even existed and right now I’m going to make myself disappear from her life.” He explained angrily.
“ Mike please.” She pleaded.
“ Good night Anna.” He muttered, walked to his room and slammed the door.
Anna sat down at the centre island and buried her head in her arms.
Great, you told him and he freaked out. Now he’s leaving. He doesn’t even know her. She deserves to have a father…but what kind of father could he be if he wants to leave? Dammit, now I have to tell her. How is she going to react knowing that this man she just met a day ago is her father? How can she accept him? How can he accept her? How am I going to deal with this? Jesus help me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laura entered the kitchen slowly and frowned at the sight she saw. She walked towards the island and sat down across from her mother.
“ Oh boy, alcohol…something bad happened.” She stated softly.
Anna looked up from her wine glass and stared into her daughter’s worried eyes. Her eyes were so much like her father’s, always soft yet intense at the same time.
“ It’s nothing.” She muttered sadly.
“ Yeah right…I know a problem when I see one and this is definitely a problem.” She explained.
Anna sighed uneasily and looked around the kitchen with watery eyes. “ I just spoke to your father.”
“ Yeah?”
Anna nodded. “ Told him about you.”
Laura raised a brow. “ How’d it go?”
“ Well…he’s freaked…he thinks he’s ruined and I THINK he hates me.” Anna explained shakily.
Laura hissed and frowned. “ Ouch.”
“ Yeah…I guess it’s better to tell him now than never right?” she asked with a weak smile.
Laura walked over to her and wrapped her arms around her. “ Mom…I’m sure he’s glad you told him…otherwise he’d have this whole other family and I’d have annoying brothers and sisters that I don’t want to know about.”
Anna smiled a little. Her daughter always managed to put a smile on her face, even when she was upset…a quality she had gotten from Mike. “ You’re so much like your father.”
Laura frowned slightly. “ Is that good or bad?”
“ Both.”
“ Uhuh…so where’s Mike?”
Anna looked up the staircase and frowned. “ Sleeping.” She muttered.
“ Yep, told you…he’s a lazy man…can’t even stay up past midnight.” Laura smiled.
Anna chuckled a little and looked down.
“ So mom…you gonna tell me who my dad is or am I going to be left in the dark my entire life?”
Anna swallowed hard with nerves. She had just gone through one truth telling episode…now she had to go through another one. “ Um…how about tomorrow.”
“ Sounds like a plan.” Laura sighed casually and gave her mom a kiss on the cheek. “ Night.”
“ Good night.” Anna replied wearily.
“ Love you mom.”
Anna smiled a little as she watched her daughter open her door. “ Love you too baby.”
She sighed a little as her daughter disappeared down into her room. She really hoped that Mike wouldn’t leave. He’s just upset, he’ll calm down soon. Then maybe I can talk him into staying a little longer. I know they’ll get along…it might take some time though.
She looked up the stairs and furrowed her brow. A VERY long time.

~~Okay, hope you enjoyed that and MORE TO COME...how will she react, learning that Mike is her father? Oh and i had a question from a reviewer asking if this was yet another sequel to YOU FOUND ME...well...it could be...but the age thing would be kinda different since in that story they were 17 and not 16 like she was when she got pregnant....anwyays...just thought i'd clear that up...review please THANKEES!!:)~~