Alyssa

"At first I thought you meant you were going to bring me there on your motorcycle," Michael chuckles.

I roll my eyes and look over at him as I pull up to a red light. With the seat pushed all the way back, Michael just barely fits. Transferring him from his wheelchair into my passenger seat was a million times more frustrating than I expected. We haven't yelled at each other that much since the first couple of mornings after the accident.

"I haven't even ridden my bike in a month now," I say.

I thought I would miss riding, but the last thing I feel like doing these days is getting on my bike. Even going down to the parking lot to get my car was hard enough. When I realized I wasn't getting any better, I rerouted my daily path to class to avoid having to walk by the lot.

"Why not?"

"It still needs repairs."

He pauses for a moment. "It's that damaged? All you hit was a bicycle and a human," he snorts.

I chew on my lip. "Yeah, I just need to get it, you know, checked out," I mumble. Part of me doesn't want to admit that the only thing with problems is me. I've been hoping that ignoring it will fix things, but that plan hasn't been going very well. Michael opens his mouth to speak but I cut him off. "Aren't you excited to be getting your splints off?"

He lets out a heavy sigh. "I guess, but I'll still be stuck in the chair for another three months."

"You really need to learn to look on the bright side, Michael," I playfully scold him. "Don't worry, I'll still be around until you're completely healed."

"Oh boy," he snorts and rolls his eyes.

-----

Michael studies his bare arm and leg again after I've gotten him back in the car. His skin is a bit paler and more dry than it was before the splint, but the doctor said it would be back to normal soon. She also recommended a couple of simple exercises to build up his strength again. I already know I'm the one who's going to be keeping on top of that.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah, it's much more of a relief than I thought it would be. I only feel half broken now," he says with a wry smile.

"I'm glad," I say and start the car again. "By the way, did you see the email from Professor Pine this morning?"

"About the term project? I skimmed it."

We're supposed to do a deep analysis on a movie from the provided list. I've already decided on which one I want to do.

"Do you want to be partners?" I ask excitedly. He looks at me hesitantly and I can already tell what he's thinking. "Before you say no, Andrea already has a partner."

"What?!" He stares at me in disbelief. "I can't believe her."

I chuckle. "Looks like we're partners!"

Michael mutters something unintelligible under his breath. He listens silently as I tell him about my ideas. He doesn't seem thrilled about using Titanic as our film, but I'm sure he'll come around soon enough.

We proceed to drive for a bit until I notice Michael frowning in the corner of my eye. "This isn't the way back to campus," he says, looking at me suspiciously.

I bite my lip, doing my best to hide my excited grin. "Ok don't be mad but, I have a surprise planned for the afternoon."

-----

"This is amazing," I gush as another small, fluffy kitten crawls onto my lap. Even with me sitting on the floor, it's just barely tall enough to climb up my leg. She paws at my stomach until curling up next to the other kitten on my lap. I can just barely hear their soft purring over the excited barking and meowing coming from the other animals in the giant playpen.

I'm starting to understand why people have therapy animals. I can feel the crushing weight building on my chest for the last month starting to lift.

Maybe I should adopt a kitten.

"Hey! Stop that," I hear Michael yelp.

My eyes snap over to the other side of the playpen. I stifle my giggle as I spot a puppy trying to gnaw at Michael's leg cast.

Being careful not to disturb the kittens on my lap, I carefully scoot over to where Michael is sitting.

"Relax." I reach over and gently pull the puppy off his foot. "His mouth is way too small to do any real damage."

"This is stupid," he grumbles. "I already told you I don't like animals."

"Aw, how can you say that to this little face?" I coo, holding a baby Pomeranian up to him. It lets out a high pitched bark and begins wagging its tail.

I adore animals, but we learned the hard way that Anthony is allergic to cats and Alan is allergic to dogs. I tried to convince mom and dad to let me keep them in the garage, but to no avail - mom said Anthony and Alan were not going to live in the garage. When I spotted the animal shelter on the sorority's volunteer board, I was the first to sign up.

Michael remains silent as I carefully place the puppy on his lap. He turns away and refuses to acknowledge it, even as it begins pawing at his chest and whimpering.

"How can you not like animals?" I ask.

"I'm fine with animals," he scoffs, "I don't like pets."

We suddenly hear a gentle knock on the door. A middle aged woman wearing a neon blue t-shirt that reads Markham Animal Shelter in bold white letters enters the room. Her greying hair is tied up into a neat bun and there are faint, dusty pawprints on her jeans.

"Hi there, I'm Beth," she greets us with a bright grin. "Sorry I wasn't here when you arrived, I was at the vet with one of our dogs."

"No worries, Kaylie was very welcoming," I say. Kaylie, the shelter assistant, was practically as excitable and energetic than some of the animals here.

"Thank you again for helping us out," Beth says as she climbs over the playpen's short walls to join us. "We do our best to let the younger ones out of their cages as often as possible, but we just don't have enough staff here to watch them."

I ignore Michael's amused grin as he nods towards the playpen's gate. In hindsight, climbing over would've been a much better method of entering the playpen. A pair of kittens managed to escape when I opened the gate and we spent ten minutes frantically looking for them. They somehow managed to sneak under Michael's chair without either of us noticing.

"It's our pleasure, we love animals."

I notice her eyes lingering on Michael for a moment. "Have you come here before?" she asks him. "You look familiar."

"Uh, no," he says, looking away from her. "I don't think we've met."

Beth walks over to a small locker against the wall. She pulls out a thick, slightly worn out photo book. I can just make out the faded label peeling up at the edges, Adoptions.

I watch curiously as she brings it back to us and begins flipping through the pages. There are dozens of photos; happy people posing with animals in front of the shelter.

"This is you, no?"

My eyes widen at the picture of what is clearly Michael as a kid, probably not older than ten. The handwritten label below the picture reads, The Adachi Family. Behind him are who I can only assume are his parents, and next to him are two little girls – twins. Wide, cheerful smiles adorn their faces, even Michael's.

What mainly draws my attention however, is the dog sitting on Michael's lap. A baby greyhound, small enough to fit into a shoebox.

I immediately look at Michael. His brows are furrowed and his lips are pulled into a tight line.

"Yeah, I guess that's me," he mumbles.

"I would never forget your family, Michael," she says, smiling ear to ear. "You were the sweetest little boy I had ever met."

My jaw drops open in disbelief, but I quickly straighten my expression when I notice Michael scowling at me. "Why?"

Beth's smile fades for the first time since entering the room. "The shelter wasn't doing very well at the time. The building desperately needed repairs, the animals weren't getting quality care, and we could barely afford to pay our staff. We were in debt and on the verge of shutting down," she explains. "It would've been terrible! We were the only animal shelter in the city."

"The Toronto animal shelter isn't too far from here," Michael mutters under his breath.

Beth doesn't seem to notice and continues. "When Michael was here to adopt his dog, his family heard the news," she says. "He was so adamant and passionate about helping us out."

"What did he do?"

"He signed up to volunteer and refused to leave until his parents pitched in as well." She smiles at him endearingly. "They ended up writing us an incredibly generous cheque. It was more than enough to fix everything up and keep things running."

"That's so sweet, Michael," I gush. He doesn't look at me but I notice his cheeks flushing. "What happened to not liking pets?"

"People change."

I frown and cross my arms. Change is an understatement. He became a totally different person by the sound of it. "Do you still have that dog?"

"He's long gone now," he says flatly.

I put my hand over his. "Oh no, I'm so sorry!" I may have only had a hamster, but I was devastated when he died.

"Thanks," Michael mumbles.

I study the picture again. They're such an adorable family. Unbeknownst to Michael, his dad and I have FaceTimed a couple times now to check in on Michael. Comparing this picture to now, I can safely say that his dad has aged like fine wine.

Michael is the spitting image of his mom, except for her smile. She has the warmest and most friendly smile I've ever seen. It's like being sent a comforting hug through a picture.

"You look just like your mom."

Michael blankly stares at the picture for a while. "Yeah, everyone used to always say that..." he says, trailing off quietly.

I feel my stomach suddenly sink. On the off chance that he's actually willing to speak for once, I try engaging. "Michael?" I say softly. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," he says monotonously.

Somehow I doubt that. I study Michael's face, but it looks as aloof as ever.

"Are you sure?"

"Drop it, Alyssa," he snaps.

It's uncomfortably silent for a moment before Beth speaks. "So, err... do either of you have any plans for the long weekend?" she asks, quickly changing the subject.

Knowing Michael isn't going to speak first, I nod. As per usual, he isn't going to talk about his feelings, and there's nothing I can do about it. "I'm going back to Maryland to visit my family," I say.

I have relatives from Canada who always visit and we celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving together. Then a month later, we visit them to celebrate American Thanksgiving. Two giant, amazing Thanksgiving meals a year? Yes please.

"I'll just be here," Michael says, casually shrugging his shoulders.

I look at him sympathetically. "Do you not celebrate Thanksgiving?"

He shakes his head. "My dad's busy with work and my sisters are visiting our aunt in Japan this year."

Despite how nonchalant he seems about it, my heart hurts a little for Michael. What a holiday to spend alone. I pause for a moment and chew on my lip. "Would you be interested in coming with me?" I ask. "My family loves having guests."

He begins to roll his eyes but stops to sincerely look at me when he seems to actually comprehend my words. His expression softens. "Um... no thanks, I'm busy," he says quietly.

"You can't spend thanksgiving alone!"

He furrows his brows at me. "Aren't you dating that guy, Chris? Why not invite him?"

I ignore the stinging feeling in heart. "No, it's not official," I mumble, absentmindedly petting the cat on my lap. The gentle purring helps me relax. "He's spending it with his family anyway."

Chris thought it was too soon for him to be meeting my family and declined. That makes sense... right? We don't want to be overeager and rush things.

Michael raises an eyebrow but doesn't say anything.

"It was a mutual decision," I insist, even though part of me is still trying to convince myself.

"Right," Michael says slowly.

"Plus, I promised that I would take care of you. How am I supposed to do that when I'm hundreds of miles away?" I point out. "What are you even busy with?"

"You know, assignments and shit," he mumbles. "I always have work to do, you know that."

I cross my arms. "You're a workaholic at the most inconvenient times, you know that?" I swear every time I've invited Michael to hang out, he conveniently has some sort of work to do.

"It's whatever, leave me alone." His voice is sharp, but I see the normally stern, piercing look in his eyes grow distant.

I decide not to push it. 

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A/N:

I'd love to have a puppy or kitten 🥺 

Thanks for reading!