"-and Peanuts the Pocket Squirrel is flourishing in his new, dollhouse-home"

"Ha ha, that is just wonderful!"
The TV presenter glimmers and chuckles behind his desk.
"Thank you for that segment, Brooke. Be sure to tune in tomorrow night to see her discuss an aids crisis that happened forty years ago. But now is the time that we've all been waiting for. We are being joined by our special guest, Micheal Mell!"

The live audience goes wild, cheering and clapping as loud as they can. A guy steps onto the stage, curled hair artfully styled and wearing a flattering yet casual suit. He gleams a glittering smile, striding across the stage to the talk show host. They shake hands before Micheal sits on the couch next to his desk.

"Micheal! Thank you for joining us this evening" The host says above the still hollering crowd.

"The pleasure's all mine, Jake. I've always been a fan of this show and it's an honour to be here on this ugly orange couch" Micheal says, causing rippling laughter to spread through the studio.

Jake, the host, throws his head back with laughter.

"I've been saying that for years that couch is revolting. Now, Micheal, I have to admit that I am a big fan of yours so I was ecstatic to hear that you were going to be in a new movie"

"Gosh I'm flattered- and yeah this movie is very special to me. I'm old friends with the writer and co-star Jared Kleinman, so when he approached me I was all in"
Micheal crosses his legs, using gentle hand gestures as he speaks.

Jake nods along to his words. He's a great TV host- always listening closely, always knowing what questions to ask.
"Now tell us about the movie- what was the inspiration?"

"So the story of Be More Chill as you know is about a teenage boy- Will Roland and his best friend George Salazar- that's me. Will is extremely insecure so he takes this pill called a Squip, which is a little computer in his head that tells him how to be cool. It was inspired by mine and Jared's high school years. A lot of the characters are based after people we knew, the Squip is actually based off a teacher we know. In fact we have a lot of references to our own lives in the movie"

Jake leans forward on the desk.
"References? Like what?"

"Well . . . uh . . . okay, they mention that George has a pac man tattoo which is based off my own pac man tattoo- Jared and I got matching ones when we were seventeen. Oh and there's a play happening in the movie- Romeo and Juliet, which was happening in our senior year. There's actually a lot of strange stories about that play it's crazy. Don't give me that look, I have promised never to talk about what happened during that play"

"Okay you tease" Jake jokes, shuffling the flashcards in his hands.
"Now- is it okay if we address some rumours?"

"Ooo of course" Micheal says.

"There has been a rumour flying around that you are dating your old friend Jared-"

Jake is cut off by Micheals hysterical laughter. The actor bends over in the couch, nearly in tears. Jake looks to the audience as if to say what the fuck?, causing a rippling chuckle.

"Sorry sorry" Micheal composes himself. "No no no I'm not dating Jared- not in a million years. I do in fact have a boyfriend but it is not Jared"

The audience 'oooooh's' in reply.

Jake pulls an exaggerated appalled face.
"You can't . . . oh my god you can't just tease us like that. Tell us more about this mystery boy"

Micheal throws up his hands in defence.
"I've already said too much I'm sorry I can't say anything more"

"Wow" Jake shakes his head slowly. "I hope you realise that you are disappointing thousands of fanfiction writers across the world"

"They'll just have to stick with x readers for now" Micheal shrugs, smiling like he knows exactly when the world is going to end.

⚣

"-I mean, I still can't believe that this movie exists. We've dreamed a-and thought about it for so long and I can't be happier knowing that our brain baby is making people happy" Micheal says into the red carpet microphone, running his fingers through his styled hair as he beams in excitement.

"You should be very proud m, the whole world can't wait to see the movie" the reporter replies, making Micheal laugh a little.

"Is anyone joining you tonight?" The reporter moves onto another question with a toss of her long brown hair. "Any friends, family . . . significant others . . ."

"Ah" Micheal smacks his lips. "I knew this question was coming, uh- no. No my 'significant other' is actually sick and couldn't make it; but, my mothers are here tonight. Can't quite find them at the moment but they both look stunning and I'm over the moon that they're here"

"Uh huh- just to back-pedal a moment before we talk to your mothers, what can you tell us about your partner?"

"Well, he is a man" Micheal puts his hands in the pockets of his maroon jacket. "And he is a cool man and he really wanted to come to this premiere- we had a plan to put a bag over his head and- it was gonna be a whole thing it was gonna be great"

The reporter widens her mysterious eyes, laughing a little.
"Wow please send him our love and best wishes"

"Oh I will" Micheal fights back a smile, and loses.

After a few more routine questions about the movie and his cast mates, Micheal steps back into the red carpet, smiling and posing for photographs.

Once again, he has that all-knowing smirk. He has managed to dodge every relationship related question thrown at him, not revealing a drop of information about his boyfriend. When he finally gets inside and finds Jared, he greets him with a laugh and a hug.

They chat for a while about how excited they are that this is finally happening before Jared asks about Micheal's boyfriend.
"So, what's the real reason he couldn't be here, huh?" He asks, sipping from his martini which is really just 7up in a fancy glass.

Micheal chuckles innocently.
"I don't know what you mean"

Jared gently slams the glass on the table for dramatic effect.
"Micheal. Micheal. Don't try and bullshit and bullshitter"

Micheal breaks, cracking a grin.
"He decided not to make an appearance to keep the mystery alive. He's loving the attention he's getting"

"Yeah but he's not getting any attention cause no one knows who he is"

"Exactly"
Micheal resists the urge to smash his own glass on the ground and yell "another!"
He does, however, wipe his mouth on his sleeve, straightening his posture.
"You ready to watch our movie"

Jared downs his drink.
"Bitch I've been ready since high school"

⚣

Micheal closes his apartment door. He discards his shoes, blazer and socks as he approaches his living room. He's greeted by a boy wrapped in like six blankets watching TV.

The boy grins at him.
"Hello"

Micheal doesn't respond. He just collapses on the couch, his head resting on his boyfriend's lap.

"How was the premiere?" Jeremy rubs his fingers through Micheal's gelled hair.

"Good, tiring. The movie is . . . it's exactly what we envisioned. I can't wait for you to see it" Micheal replies, his voice tired and low.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there to support you, I'm just really loving this mystery charade" Jeremy kisses his forehead affectionately.

"Don't be sorry, babe. I got to mess with those reporters all night. It was the best!"

Jeremy grins, his log fingers tracing his boyfriend's face.
"I was going to stick on a movie, if you're in the mood for another one"

"Hmmm yeeeesssssssss~" Micheal rolls into his side so he's facing the TV. "Oh!" He looks up to Jeremy with pleading eyes. "Can we watch Hamilton 🥺?"

"Psssshhh that's not even a question" Jeremy grabs the remote and sticks it on.

After throwing a blanket on Micheal, the pair snuggle up and watch the musical for the rest of the long night; Content in their private apartment and private life.

•••
This chapter isn't really anything.
This was just something I started a while ago and never finished, so I'll publish it for this week while I work on longer chapters.

(Coming soon:
• Hopefully Not part 2
• Step Brothers AU
• Sleepy Time Story ft. The Squip Squad
• Soul For A Soul part 2
and finally
• maybe a skater AU cause I started one a while ago and never wrote it)

Have a great day. You don't have a choice.

- Avery <3