Live As If We Died

Weeks had passed since Austin's death and everything seemed to be back to normal, even myself. Mike decided that we should go down to the beach and I accepted from the instant it came out of his mouth. Lately, he hasn't been around the house lately, nor has Jaime due to planning for the next album. I was okay with that, knowing well that they had to make a living off of something, especially something that they loved to do. Music seemed to be in all of their souls and it was noticeable when they played their instruments and sang and through Vic's writing.

It was around midnight as we walked hand-in-hand on the beach, both puffing on a shared cigarette. All you could hear was the waves crashing, making everything seem more soothing than expected. I smiled as I peeked over at him in the corner of my eye. He made me feel more safe than I'd ever felt; like I had someone that would protect me, no matter the costs. We'd been together for a while and we didn't even fight, we didn't raise our voices, and he wasn't the asshole that everyone said that he was. I don't know why I was warned so many times in the first place. Maybe it was just me that he was like this with, but something was different about him when he was with me. It's like he let his walls down and his emotions could flow easily around me. I never judged him for his confessions, stupidity, or those dark moments that he had a tendency to have.

I finally let go of his hand and ran away from him as fast as I could. He was bewildered and gave me a weird look. "What the fuck are you doing, lady?" He shouted towards me.

"Come here!" I shouted back with a giddy tone to my voice. He walked over to me, only to have me runaway down the beach from him again. I heard him chuckle to himself in the distance and then the pounding of his feet agains the sand as he ran to catch up with me. I turned around and stuck out my tongue at him, only to blow a raspberry in his direction. I started to run backwards so I could see him, but I ran faster in order for him to have to catch me.

As he inched closer, I slowly backed myself up into the water until it was risen above my legs, almost reaching my torso. "You're weird." He stood close enough for the tide to raise over his feet. With crossed arms and a straight face, he just looked at me. I smiled at him in the distance, feeling the kid inside me for absolutely no reason. Tonight was a good night and I could feel it in my bones.

He sat down, noticing that I wasn't going to come out of the ocean until he came in after me, but he wasn't going to. I rolled my eyes and walked out slowly then threw myself on top of him. "You're a crazy bitch, querida." He started to lean his head back into the sand and laughed loudly, so I kissed his jawline as he continued to laugh.

"So I'm a bitch?" I asked as I sat on top of him, leaving back onto his raised legs.

He scrunched up his face, trying to quickly think of a response. "Yes, but a crazy one, so it doesn't sound as bad as it is." He lifted his eyebrows at me, thinking that it sounded okay.

His smile was wide as he reached for my hands to hold them. This man made my whole life seem better than it ever had. He took the sadness away the second it hit me, and he even took the anger away from me with a simple kiss and a hug. I smiled back at him and just looked into his eyes from a small distance and finally bit my lip.

I was lucky to have him.

After minutes of pure silence from the two of us, the bug finally bit him and he flipped us over so I was on my back. He stood up, taking me with him in the fireman's lift and ran straight into the ocean and plopped me down. The water was now past my chest, making him laugh at my height for the hundredth time since we'd been together.

I pouted.

"What?" He took my face into both of his hands and placed his forehead to mine. "This is what you wanted to do earlier, so quit the pouting." To that, I pouted even more than I had been.

"I wasn't expecting to have the ocean this high and for it to drench all of my clothes." Mike laughed his famous laugh, leaning his head back and laughing towards the sky with his eyes closed.

"I'm not sorry," he told me with a straight face after settling down.

"You should be."

"Stop being so childish over this." His voice was stern and finally, I showed him a smile that I'd been trying to hold back since he put me down. "Okay, bitch move."

"See! Now you called me a bitch and hurt my feelings! Good fucking going, Michael!" I yelled at him and tried to cross my arms. He bent down and kissed me, knowing that I was about to burst out into laughter at any second. He picked me back up afterwards and took me back to the sand, dropping me on my butt. "You're mean."

"Oh, I'm mean?" I nodded my head with a grin.

Together, Mike and I could be completely childish without it bothering the other person. I liked it and I know damn well that he did too. Maybe it wasn't a typical relationship, but it was a fun one that was full of laughter instead of tears and love instead of lust or dislike. Most relationships weren't like ours and that's what made it great. We could insult each other without getting mad and joke around about the dumb things. Being childlike was divine when I was with him.

After an hour of laying on the beach in silence, looking on the stars. He started to yawn which was a signal to get home and climb into bed together. He fell asleep first, making calming noises in his sleep. For a while, I just laid next to him, hearing nothing but the beating of his heart and his breathing. It made me relaxed. Plus, he was darling when he was sleeping.

I always felt like I was right at home with him.