Based off Rascal Flatts song of the same name. Written ages ago, finished recently for a pal of mine, ending is waayyy different than it started out as but literally whateves, idk why I even wanted to post this. Merry Christmas.
"Hey babe. Don't forget I'm picking you up tonight! We'll get your favorite foods and marathon Marvel movies. I love you. Couldn't stop thinking about you today. See you at seven."
She presses the nine after the beep and sighs. Why couldn't she erase that year-old message yet? Why did she need to hear his voice on that machine over and over? Was it because she missed him? Probably. But more than that, it made her feel close to erasing it every time. Her finger always hovered over the nine, second-guessing herself. It made her smile, but then she'd remember and she'd cry. It was worse than Punishment...but it was no longer Tartarus. She keeps telling herself to let him go, but she always seems so close and doesn't.
It was just another Camp sweatshirt, okay, maybe it was his, but it was just a worn-out sweatshirt. She'd gotten mad and tried to get rid of it a thousand times. So why was she pulling the warm, worn, orange fabric over her head? She breathed in what scent of him was left on it. He'd probably forgotten it when he left her. She remembers him wearing it on the weekends, working on mech projects, running around getting parts. Holding her while he smelled like bonfires and motor oil. It was just a sweatshirt to keep her warm.
"It is so much more than that and you know it." Her best friend Kyra tells her when she shows up for their weekly Marvel movie marathon.
"C'mon," she changes the subject, "I wanna watch Iron Man 3 again." She grabs her best friend's hand and they watch the movie, laughing, talking, and eating popcorn.
"It makes me feel close." She says as the credits roll. "Close to him. And then...then close to letting go, to saying goodbye." She looks Kyra in the eye. Kyra nods and gives a sympathetic smile as she collapses into tears.
Kyra leans forward and hugs her best friend. "Let's watch your favorite Young Justice episode, okay?" She nods and pulls her tear-stained face from her friend's shoulder. Nico decides to walk in then and gives Kyra a "look".
Kyra stands and smiles at her. "My boyfriend needs me."
In the kitchen, Kyra and Nico talk in whispers, but she can hear them. Nico's found Leo, and Leo has a new girlfriend. She presses play on the episode, the one that makes her so happy but so sad at the same time. Failsafe. She watches them, Wally and Artemis. The Team. She watches as Wally denies the possibility of her death. Watches as Artemis disintegrates before her very eyes. Watches Robin force KF out of his funk over Artemis. She hugs her knees to her chest and lets her tears be about the show for a while. They morph into grief over episodes to come, and then she's crying because just like Artemis had to leave Wally in season two, Leo had left her. She wanted to peel off the sweatshirt and rip it into tiny pieces then, but it was keeping her warm.
So she didn't.
In the middle of the night, there's a knock on Kyra's door. Kyra is passed out cold on the couch, The Avengers is still on quietly in the background. Michelle quietly stands up from where she's positioned as Kyra's pillow and makes her way to the door. She quietly opens the front door and stifles her scream when she sees Leo standing there.
"Hey Blue Eyes…"
Michelle has to stuff the urge of slamming the door in his face. "Leo," she replies tightly. "What are you doing here?"
"I kinda came to apologize, for leaving the way I did."
"Apology accepted, can I go to sleep now?"
"Give me one more try."
"Why?"
"Because you're still wearing my sweatshirt."
She scowls down at the garment, "It's warm.:"
"One more try."
"Your last try, you hear me Valdez?"
"Loud and clear, Ice Queen."