November
April and Conner were leaned against the island in the kitchen, currently having a thumb war. "Conner, you've gotta attack from the side." Mike advised while leaning against the short end of the island.
"You can't give him advice." April spoke as she looked over to Mike while Conner began trying to come at her from the side.
"I do as I please." He retorted causing an over exaggerated eye roll from her.
Mike smiled, finding himself staring at her insanely concentrated face. It had been four months since Mike had found out his feelings for April, and he had been hiding it ever since. He convinced himself he was doing what was best for her, but every day, she did something to make him fall more in love. Just like her concentrated determination on winning this thumb war.
April was having a similar dilemma. She was as close as she usually is with Mike, but every little thing they did was hurting her. She knew she had to stay away from it and if they ever got together, it would be more hurt than it was worth, but she couldn't help but love him at every sarcastic comment and every caring word.
While April was thinking about all of this, Conner took that opportunity to take down April in the thumb war. "What the hell?" April spoke after he had her thumb down for three seconds.
Conner let go, throwing his hands in the air in a triumph. "I am the champion."
April rolled her eyes at him before moving to the fridge. "Whatever."
Almost immediately, Ben came into the kitchen, looking around frantically. "Where's April?" he asked the two.
April closed the fridge, raising her hand with a confused look on her face. "I'm an April."
"April," he spoke as he moved towards her. "How much do you love your grandmother?"
April turned her head to the side. "You know I love her. Is Grandmother okay?"
"Okay good," Ben spoke as he put his hands on her shoulders. "Because she's bunking with you tonight."
April stood there for a minute, realizing her father had tricked her. April turned around to see her father smiling next to Mike who had an even bigger smile on his face. "What the hell?" April whispered to herself. "We have like a million other rooms."
"Your grandmother misses you." He said with a shrug. "She wants to room with you."
April let out an exaggerated sigh while looking over to Conner. "Why can't she bunk with Conner?"
Ben moved forward, looking at his daughter. "She wants some girl bonding time." He explained as April looked over to Mike in hopes for help which he just shrugged to. "And she's your grandmother, you don't know how many years you have left with her."
"Ugh," she groaned, shaking her head at her father. "Don't pull that on me."
Ben gave her a smile before patting her on the arm. "Your grandmother is bunking with you for the night."
Once Ben walked out of the kitchen, April looking to Mike. "You gave him that idea, didn't you?"
Mike gave her a smirk and a shrug. "Maybe."
"So, you and Grams are bunking?" Megan asked through the phone.
"It looks like it." April spoke as she painted her nails, inspecting how the color looked in the light before deciding to paint the rest of her hand.
"Well," Megan spoke as she watched her cousins run around the couch she was sitting on. "At least it's better than being at my aunt's house with my five boy cousins."
"Ugh," April groaned as she continued to paint her nails. "Why did you have to go see your family for Thanksgiving?"
"I don't know." She spoke, finally getting up to get away from her loud cousins. "I would much rather be in DC with you meeting Grandmother." She tried to sound as fancy as she could when saying "Grandmother" knowing that was the only thing April called her.
April chuckled a little bit, but then she heard Megan's mom in the background. "Oh, is that April Asher? Tell her I said hi."
"Mom," Megan groaned.
"Hey, Mrs. Goodnight." April spoke into the phone.
"She said 'hey', Mom."
"She's such a sweet girl." April continued to laugh, hearing Megan's mom continue to talk about April to her sister. "Megan's best friends with the President's daughter."
"Okay," Megan spoke into the phone. "I'm leaving the room before the two get into a bragging battle." Once the door finally shut, Megan got closer to the phone. "So, what's going on with you and Mike?"
"Nothing." April spoke in an annoyed tone.
"Why not?" Megan asked slightly annoyed. "You tried the whole sleeping with someone else thing and you still had feelings for him the next day. If it was me, I would be all over that."
As this conversation was going on, O'Neil was passing by her room, but he couldn't help but hear April's voice carry out the door. "He's a secret service agent, Megan. He works for my dad and he's much older than me. It could never work out between us."
O'Neil straightened out a little bit, taking all that he heard in. April had a crush on one of the secret service agents. He looked around, knowing he had to tell the next agent he saw because they were going to get to the bottom of this.
"Oh, it's gotta be me." Forbes claimed while the whole group stood in the hallway, waiting on the Ben's mother's arrival.
"Why does it have to be you?" Diaz questioned with a slight eye roll.
"Because I'm the hottest one out of all of you." Forbes spoke in an obvious tone. Roma rolled his eyes with a bit of a smile. "Oh, what?" Forbes pressed on. "You think it's you?"
"I most definitely do not think it's me." Roma spoke while laughing. He would never be able to think of April that way.
"She's hot." Forbes said with a shrug.
"Really, dude?" O'Neil asked.
"Oh, come on." Forbes spoke while hitting his arm. "You can't tell me April's not hot." No one made eye contact with Forbes after that statement. None of them around could think of April that way, that's what was making the crush so scandalous to them. "I'd do her." Forbes said with a shrug.
They all groaned and asked Forbes to stop as he just laughed. That's when Mike approached. "Hey," O'Neil spoke. "Maybe Mike knows. He's the one who spends the most time with her."
Mike looked to them all as they all turned to him with an interested look on their faces. "'Maybe Mike knows' what?"
Forbes leaned in, not wanting anyone else to pick up on their conversation. "Word has it that April's got a crush on one of the members of the Secret Service."
"Shut up." Mike laughed out.
"I'm serious." He told him with a shrug. "O'Neil heard her talking about it on the phone."
Secretly, Mike got giddy. He was hoping it was him. Maybe if the feeling was mutual, they would be able to do something about it. "So, let me guess," Mike spoke, looking around at the group. He just knew these guys too well. "You're all standing around here like idiots trying to find out who it is."
They were all quiet for a moment when Diaz spoke up. "Maybe it's Erikson." They all spoke in a chorus of agreements, able to see that pairing. Mike just rolled his eyes at them all, a smile coming at the corner of his mouth.
"What are you guys talking about?" They all got immediately quiet, fear in their eyes as they turned around to see April at the bottom of the stairs. She gave them all a strange look as they turned to her. "What's wrong with you guys?"
"Nothing." They all spoke in unison.
Her eyebrows furrowed as she took a turn looking at all of them individually. "Weirdos." She commented before hurrying past them to get into the kitchen.
All of the men looked at each other, knowing they had to get to the bottom of this. They wouldn't be able to focus on anything else. They all hurried off after her, catching her just as she stole a bit of cranberry sauce from Monica. The two girls looked at all the agents, wondering what the hell was going on. "What?" April finally asked, mouth half full. Mike thought it was extremely cute.
"Nothing." Roma spoke, initiating the accusations. "There's just a rumor going around."
"What rumor?" Monica questioned. She knew she was the first to hear about all the rumors in the White House, and she hadn't heard anything.
"That April has a crush on one of the secret service agents." Forbes spoke, winking after speaking.
April's eyes got wide like a deer in the headlights, not sure what to do. They knew. Mike knew. It wouldn't be too long until her dad knew. "So, come on, April," Mike spoke, giving her a little smile. April felt her heart pounding in her chest. They were gonna make her say it out loud in front of all of them. "Who is it?"
April had to blink a little bit after she heard what he asked. They had no idea she was in love with Mike. She felt her heartbeats slow down a little bit as she let out a little sigh. "Look," Forbes spoke, throwing his hands up in the air. "If it's me, just let me know and confirm to these guys that I'm the hottest one out of the bunch."
"Shut up, Forbes." Roma spoke with an eye roll.
April rolled her eyes at them all with a smile. "Why does it even matter?"
"Because we want to know." O'Neil spoke obviously.
They all spoke in agreements, making April turn to Monica. "Why are guys so relentless?"
"Come on, April," Diaz spoke with a shrug, wanting to know who it was just as much as the rest of them. "Just tell us who it is."
"No because this is dumb." April spoke with an eye roll. She was starting to get mad at their badgering.
"April," Forbes spoke in a calm voice, moving even closer to her, making her roll her eyes yet again. "As soon as you talk, we can get back to Thanksgiving."
"I don't think she wants to talk about it, guys." Monica spoke, putting her hands on April's shoulders.
"It takes two seconds." Mike spoke, moving closer to her, honestly hoping it was him.
"Fine!" April suddenly exploded, taking them all by surprise. She was just getting so flustered and Mike asking just pushed her to the top. "You guys really want to know?!" She opened her mouth and stuttered until she finally came with a fake answer. "Forbes!"
After that, she turned on her heels and hurried off, not wanting to talk to anyone else. Monica looked at the guys, obviously pissed and everyone was completely quiet. Well, until Forbes thought back on what she said. "I fucking told you guys."
Roma rolled his eyes as he shook his head at him. "Shut up, Forbes."
April was sitting in the Lincoln Bedroom, trying to get away from everyone. The touring part of the White House was closed, so for the first time in a while, she didn't have to worry about tourists going through her house and trying to find out everything about her.
She was mad at everyone. She was mad at Diaz and O'Neil for not letting it to. She was mad at Roma for letting it go on for as long as it did. She was mad at Forbes for being cocky enough to think that she actually liked him. Most of all, she was mad at Mike for being the one to push her over the edge. The hardest part was that it was really him she loved. And he would never know it.
She heard the door open and close behind her, making her jump. When she turned around, she saw it was Mike, causing her to roll her eyes and turn back to look at her hand. "What do you want?"
Mike sighed when he saw her, feeling awful. The guys had teased her and teased her until she cracked and he knew this had to be a sensitive subject for her. It was for him. "Can we talk?"
"I don't know," she asked, halfway turning around. "Are you gonna be a complete douche and interview me on how long I've had a crush on Forbes?"
"Okay," Mike spoke, sitting down next to her, looking at her face as April rolled her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her chest, not wanting to look at him. "I'm a dick."
April scoffed at the act that he was finally admitting it. She had never been so angry with him and it didn't make sense to be mad at him the most. She should have been mad at them all the same amount. She didn't know why she was the maddest at Mike. "Really?" She asked, turning to him, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I had no idea."
He bumped into her, causing her to give him a little smile. "Don't be an ass about it." He smile to her, causing her to look away a bit in a blush. And just like that, her anger had disintegrated. "I'm apologizing." When he looked at April, he thought back to the moment he fell in love and how much it hurt him that she didn't love him back. "I honestly never would have thought Forbes was your big crush."
April rolled her eyes at all of this going on. If only he knew. "Yup."
"When did that start?" Mike honestly wanted to get as much information out of her as he could.
April sighed, finding herself look to the left, knowing Mike of all people was going to pick up on that. "Um, like four months ago, I don't know."
Mike began to scrunch his eyebrows together, not understanding where this weird behavior was coming from. "You don't know?" April just shrugged, really trying not to look at him. "Then why did you look to the left when telling me that while also pulling on your ear."
April blinked a couple of times. She knew looking to the left was a basic lying tell, but touching her ear was her specific tell. She didn't even know she had used it. "I saw a bug and I felt it buzz in my ear." She lied again.
"Bullshit." Mike spoke, moving his stance to look her right in the eye. "You're lying." he spoke with the shake of the head, a small smirk growing from catching her lie.
"So what if I am?" April asked defensively while standing up, Mike following her lead, almost like it was a challenge.
"I think you're lying about the whole Forbes thing so everyone can get off your back."
April was fuming, not wanting to spill her secret, but also getting mad that he was in her face. "Get out of the way, Mike."
Mike's smile just got bigger, he loved making her mad, but he also had hope that he was the one. "Not until you tell me who it is."
"Mike!"
"April, tell me who you like."
"You!" She screamed suddenly. "I like you, okay?!"
Mike was frozen for a moment and so was April as the air had filled with sticky silence. She had finally said it while Mike finally had what he wanted. April sighed, trying to hurry past him, but Mike just couldn't let her. Not after everything he had been through in these past four months. The second her hand touched the door knob, Mike grabbed the hand by her side, pulling him to her, their lips crashing together in a hungry, animalistic first kiss.
April didn't expect it, but she wasn't going to stop it. Not when everything she wanted was playing out before her. Mike's tongue danced in her mouth and it was even better than she had imagined it.
Mike couldn't believe that he was doing this. This was his boss's daughter. If anyone found out about this, he would be fired. It all felt so right, though. April fit into his body better than Leah ever had.
When April pulled away from Mike, she began working on removing his coat and bowtie. "Wait," Mike spoke, looking to April, getting her to stop for a moment. "Are you sure?"
April began to laugh slightly, Mike simply making her breathless. "Mike, I broke up with William for you, and have been in love with you since the moment we argued at the entrance of the White House. I've never been surer of anything."
She moved to take off his clothes again, but he stopped her. "You love me?" April was quiet for a moment, scared she ruined everything. Maybe Mike was just in lust with her. Maybe he just did this in a moment of passion. Mike noticed the change of her face, making him know he had to tell her. He moved closer to her face, making sure she could see every inch of it. "Because I love you."
April looked up at him, feeling her heart flutter. "Yeah," she practically whispered. This wasn't how she was expecting to say it at all. She wasn't really sure how she expected it, but she loved that it was actually happening. "I love you."
They moved to start kissing again, much slower this time, Mike making sure to touch every part of her body along the way of taking off her dress. He planted kisses and love bites all up her body, now realizing that he had wanted this from the start. He needed this from her, craved it, and they were both kicking themselves for wasting so much time.
Just before the act started, Mike looked down at her, knowing that if they started this, everything would become new again. They would have each other, but they would have to keep it a secret from everyone. But as she smiled up at him, he knew it would all be worth it.
Mike and April laid in the Lincoln Bedroom, heavy breathing taking over them both. Mike's arm was around April's shoulders as they both looked up at the ceiling, neither of them finding a need to put their tops back on. "I don't think I can walk." April practically breathed out.
Mike began laughing into her shoulder, taking a moment to look at the bareness of it before planting a kiss there. "Am I that good?"
April gave him a tiny smirk. "Maybe, maybe not." Really, that was the best sex she had ever had.
Mike looked at her, letting the gravity of the situation sink in. "We just had sex in the Lincoln Bedroom."
"Yeah." April laughed while shaking her head, hardly believing it like him.
"On Thanksgiving."
April nodded again, laughs just trickling out of her throat. "Yeah, my grandmother is probably in this house and we just had sex." They both laughed about the situation until they stopped, something kicking in to April. "My grandmother is probably here."
She hurried to her phone that was on the nightstand seeing that she had ample missed calls from both of her parents. "Oh my god." April said as she bolted out of the bed. "My dad is gonna kill me."
She hurried to her clothes, putting them on as fast as she could while Mike followed her lead. "You were with me." Mike spoke with a shrug. "That's all we gotta tell them."
"Okay," she spoke looking at the room which was a complete disaster. "But what were we doing?"
Mike looked around, so far just having his pants and shoes on, thinking about everything she was saying. "You're smart. You'll figure something out."
She rolled her eyes at Mike while putting her stockings back on, but he just got on the bed, taking his time to kiss her neck. "Mike," she moaned. "Stop."
"Would it really be so bad – "
"Yes," she cut him off, already knowing what he was going to say. "It would really be that bad to miss Thanksgiving dinner. My parents are probably already hunting for me."
"April?" They both looked to each other with panicked eyes before their eyes darted to the door knob, assuring that it was locked.
"It's locked." Mike whispered to her, placing a hand on hers. "We'll be fine."
That's when the door opened up, April was all the way dressed, but Mike still didn't have his shirt on and they still had to make the bed. To make matters worse, the one who opened up the door was Forbes. He began to laugh, putting his hands on his hips. "Oh, this is rich."
Mike gave him an irritated look while putting on his shirt as April tucked her hair behind her ear, putting on her shoes. "Shut up, Forbes."
"So, it's not me you have a crush on," Forbes began as Mike stood up to put on his bow tie and blazer while April began making the bed, trying to block him out as best as she could. "You had a crush on Mikey."
April rolled her eyes, Mike doing the same while helping out in making the bed. "So, what Mike, you found this out and then you two jumped each other's bones?"
After finishing up the bed, both Mike and April straightened up, looking to each other, sharing a moment where they practically read each other's minds, trying to find out if they should tell him or not. After a few moments of just looking at each other, April threw up one of her crossed arms in a shrug. Mike finally turned to him, taking a deep breath before saying, "We're in love."
All the joking was off of Forbes face the second he heard that, his eyes widening slightly. Sure, he knew the two were close, but he just didn't expect that. April hurried over to Mike, looping her arm through his. "And we would really appreciate it if you could keep this secret for us."
Forbes sighed, looking at each of them individually before shrugging. "What the hell? I'm retiring in two months anyway." April hurried to him, giving him a big hug. "Just get down there, everyone's wondering where you two are."
"Thank you." April whispered to him as Mike grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the bedroom.
Forbes looked around at the room, shaking his head at how easy it was to catch them. "Amateurs."
Mike and April let go of each other's hands once they got to the steps and hurried down them to see everyone waiting in the parlor. "April!" Grandmother Asher spoke, going straight for her.
"Hello, Grandmother!" When she went to go hug her, Ben gave April that we'll-have-a-talk-later-that-you're-not-gonna-like look which she just nodded to, knowing it was going to happen.
"You just get more gorgeous," she spoke as she pulled away from April, April automatically blushing and shaking her head which Mike just smiled to. He just found it all very cute. And the fact that he loved her and she loved him back just made him very happy. "Every time I see you."
"Where were you two?" Maggie asked, standing up and going behind Grandmother Asher to look at her daughter and top secret service agent.
"Uh," Mike began as April turned around to look at him with an angry face. "We thought we heard rats in the walls so we were inspecting."
"Rats?" Maggie asked in shock and disgust.
"Cool." Conner spoke with a shrug.
April gave her brother an irritated look while Ben brought her back into the conversation. "Well, did you two find anything?"
"Yeah." April spoke while looking back at Mike before looking back to her father. "It was pretty big too." Mike smiled a little bit, knowing what she was getting at. "At least six inches."
"Maybe bigger." Mike spoke confidently.
April shook her head with her eyes shut. "No, definitely six inches."
"Well," Ben spoke as April gave Mike a flirty smile. "We'll check it out tomorrow, right now, let's get dinner started."
Grandmother Asher put her arm around April's shoulders as the rest of them walked forward the two trailing behind with Mike at their tail. "You know," her grandmother whispered in her ear. "I love the glow of a woman who was just fucked."
April immediately choked on her spit, never hearing that word come out of her grandmother before while Mike stood still. "Oh, come on, you two." Grandmother Asher spoke while looking to them two, removing her arm from April's shoulders. "Get it together or the whole family will know."
She walked off, April turning back to Mike with wide eyes. "I didn't know your grandmother was like that."
"I didn't know my grandmother was like that." She spoke in a panicked tone.
Mike put his hand on her back, guiding her into the dining room, ready to have the most awkward Thanksgiving dinner on the planet.
April sat on her bed with her grandmother. "How did you know?" She whispered, afraid that anyone outside could hear them like earlier today.
"Oh, I could tell by the look on your face." April held her favorite pillow to her chest, thinking about it all over again, making her smile. "And by the way you two were talking."
"Grandmother," April spoke slowly. "I think I'm in love with him."
"I could pick that up too." She spoke with a nod. April bit her lip as she smiled lightly at her words, thinking about Mike all over again. Thinking about how perfectly this was all working out. Never in her wildest dreams would she expect Mike to tell her he loved her back or that she would have the courage to tell him how she really felt. "And I know he loves you."
She looked back to her grandmother, taking deep breaths. "Thanks, Grandmother."
She looked to her granddaughter, completely confused on why she thanked her. "For what, dear?"
April smiled to her, taking a deep breath before thinking on how to explain exactly what she was thanking her for. "For bunking with me."
Everyone was at the front entrance, saying goodbye to Grandmother Asher. The family talking to each other, Mike standing in the back just watching when Grandmother Asher came up to him. "Ma'am." He spoke with a nod.
"Mike," she nodded back, the family continuing to talk, both of them watching. "Take care of my son, Mike."
"I will, ma'am."
"And if you hurt my granddaughter – "
"Trust me, ma'am," he told her with a laugh, his eyes not leaving April. "That will never happen."
"Good." She spoke with a nod. "Because if you do, I'm going after you."
Mike laughed, eyes still trained on April. She was just so gorgeous, and he couldn't believe that he was worthy enough to deserve her love. He was a piece of crap, and he knew that, but to her, he was everything, and that just made him hate himself a little less.
Mrs. HappyAnarchy: Ugh, I know! But I'm sure you'll love the events of this chapter hehehe.
THO12120445: Done!
Mascota: Thank you so much for your wonderful review! It honestly made my day. I'm planning a few interactions with Leah and April after the accident so those will be pretty fun to write. I hope you enjoyed this one, honey!
NGArmyWife: I know you're gonna love this one, hun! I hope you liked the union!
MisfitCarter: Honestly! And it's finally all out there! Thank you for the review!
Okay, this is the chapter we have all been waiting for. I hope you all liked the two FINALLY getting together, and just a friendly reminder, only one more chapter and then we'll get to the accident. Thanks for the read and remember to review!