the-black-parade

Look, Jordan, you__e not alone any more. It__ my job to protect you while I__ here and I can__ do that if you keep pushing me away.___hat__ the problem, Michael,_ I shot back. __ou have more responsibilities to your boss than you do to me. You taught me how to defend myself, how to heal myself, and that should be good enough. You can__ keep babysitting one little human when you have an entire cosmos to worry about._ He faced me again, those green eyes boring into mine as if he could see straight through me. __re you saying you want me to leave?__y chest tightened. I hadn__ expected him to say that. I bit my bottom lip, glancing away. __hat__ not what I mean.___hen what do you mean?_ __ince when have I ever known what the hell I mean?_ He touched my right cheek, making me face him. __ou do when it counts.__taring up at him, shirtless, vulnerable, and wounded, I felt like I couldn__ breathe. He had a knack for picking my walls apart brick by brick. It bothered me. He took a step closer, casting a shadow over me. __top,_ I mumbled, fixing my eyes on the floor. He brushed a lock of hair behind my ear, sliding his warm hand to lift my chin so I__ have to look at him. __top what?_ he murmured. __ooking at me.___hy?___hat__ how Terrell used to look at me before we kissed.__is lips parted to say something but I pushed past him, gathering up my duster from where it lay on the bed next to the dress. __et dressed. We have more ghosts to help.

As we strolled into the hospital, I couldn__ help thinking about Maroon 5__ __arder to Breathe_ because I was having a difficult time staying calm. I had been kidnapped and beaten senseless by an agent of Lucifer, and yet the white coats the doctors wore scared me just as badly. The men who had taken me from my mother wore those same damned lab coats. Every time I saw one, it awakened a dormant fear inside me__ear that I__ be dragged away from someone I loved again, fear that I__ be placed into the waiting hands of another horrible person. It would never truly go away.Michael__ shoulder bumped mine, which shook me out of my thoughts. I glanced at him. __hat?___ou__e frowning.___m I supposed to be smiling right now?__e faced forward, looking at our reflection in the elevator doors. __o, but you look like you__e about to bolt at any second.__ watched the digital numbers change one by one as we rose up to the right floor, fiddling with the rosary in the pocket of my leather jacket. Somehow, the beads had a calming effect on me. ____ fine.___ard ass.__ tiny smirk touched my lips. __top thinking about my butt. You__e an archangel.__e grinned, but didn__ reply.

Do you really think I__e been murdered?_ Michael__ voice was soft, but I still heard it from across the bedroom. He stood in the doorway with a rather solemn expression. Words failed me. Would he really want to hear the answer? If it were me, would I want to know if someone killed me? Maybe. I took a deep breath. ____l be honest with you. It doesn__ look good. The fact that no one knows you__e dead yet makes me worry that your death might have been intentional.__ stepped closer to him, staring all the way up into his face. __ut if you want the truth, I don__ think the reason you died was your fault. You__e a pain in the ass, but you__e a good guy. I__ sorry this happened to you.__e gazed at me for a handful of seconds before nodding and his hair slid forward into his eyes. For some reason, it was the first time Michael seemed human. He was always so amiable and confident that seeing him be vulnerable felt odd. __hank you.___ome on. Let__ go find some answers.