When a Bird Sings

Chapter One

" Cate, everything hurts, I'm so tired."

That same sentence had run through her mind only about five million times in the past five years. She knew he was strong, but Cate knew he couldn't be strong for much longer. She noticed the little things, the small tremors in his fingers or the shakiness in his voice. He had tried to hide it, but she could see right through it. She picked up her phone and typed her response. " Michael, listen to me. I know it hurts. But I'm right here and you of all people know I'm not going anywhere. You'll be okay, I promise." Cate pressed the send button and placed the lime green phone back on the dresser.
She had wanted Michael to open up to her, they were like siblings after all. But she wasn't sure if she could handle all of it at once. Her phone buzzed.
" I feel like I need to go." It read
" Well go, do anything but this. You need to go and sleep. It'll get better if you do that." She typed back.
"Why do I feel like I've made a life ruining decision?"
The words stared coldly and confusedly at her. Cate bit her lip in remorse and sympathy. She knew the feeling. "Because you're being honest." Was her simple answer. She knew that to be true because every time her past was brought back from the dark edges of time, it was key to ruining her future. Honesty liked to ruin things.
The small typing bubble appeared and re-appeared. Cate wondered what Michael would say. In truth, she was scared for him, she wanted to protect him- thing was though, she didn't know how. Another text buzzed in.

"Cate, I can't do this."

The phone slipped from her fingers and onto the dresser as she rushed to her closet for a jacket and chucks. That was it, she had to make sure he wouldn't do anything stupid. Slipping out of her bedroom window, Cate rushed through the soggy grass ad stormy sky to her friend's house. As she came upon the two story Tudor style house, she passed under the hedge and towards the back of his yard. She knew that he wouldn't be in his room, he rarely ever was. He was always in his little hideout, a clubhouse near some old and torn down fence. Without warning, she barged in, breathless and shivering, but relieved to see her friend. Her eyes searched him as he sat in the corner cry heaving. There was no strength left in his solemn face, no appearance of the old Michael, just a hollow shell of his former self. It made Cate cringe, the fact that someone could go down so fast astounded her. Michael lifted his head up to reveal bloodshot eyes and tear stains marking trails on his usually smiling face. His lips were swollen from biting and his voice inaudible and raspy, but she knew what he had said.

"Sissy?"

The pleading in his voice tore into her. Her heart slowly slid to her toes as a sense of pain swirled in her stomach. Surely a burn would feel better than this. "Michael..." She whispered, falling beside the younger teen," It's okay. I'm here now, I've got you."
She felt his hands grip her tightly, desperate for some humanly comfort. The girl passed her arms around Michael's shoulder blades and pressed him into her chest. Cate shouldn't have been startled when he let out a weak sob, but she was. Michael's body quaked against her as the thunder outside shook the wooden walls of the two room clubhouse. Michael had told her that when he fell, he fell hard. She let out a saddened sigh, he was right.
Michael didn't know what to think when Cate had barged in, dripping and pale faced. In his blurred state of mind, he couldn't wrap himself around it. He didn't need to be comforted, he could handle this himself. That's what he had done for the past ten years anyways. He didn't need her. But seeing her face, feeling her arms wrap around him and hold him he realized he did need her. Michael hid his face in the nape her of neck as hot tears escaped from his eyes.
What had he done?

The question erupted in his mind like a gunshot, she now knew his deepest and blackest secret. He tensed in her embrace and became rigid. " I shouldn't have told you... I-"
"You're not fake, you're not what you think you are." Cate responded, cutting him off, the desperation in her voice evident," Knowing that won't change what I think of you. You're a fantastic person who I hold incredibly dear." She whispered gently in his ear. The boy leaned heavily on her chest as the storming winds screamed and pushed against the metal roof.
He lifted his head, voice full of shame," It won't?"

Cate gave a motherly smile," No. Nothing can change that."

Michael sighed, with anxiety or exhaustion... or both. Cate couldn't tell.

They sat in silence, Cate holding Michael for what seemed forever, but she didn't care. It ripped her heart into shreds as he trembled in a tangle in her arms. His black waves of hair swung to the side in an unruly and sweaty fashion. Her eyes traced him. Michael was built like a tank. Not an ounce of him was weak. The little 5'5" boy had made 200 lb linemen fly onto their backs, he could outrun anyone triple his size. He could do anything he set his mind to... he didn't seem human.  But, here he was, in her arms, quaking in fear of her rejection. Cate closed her eyes, forcing her own tears back into her throat and rested her chin on his head. She would never reject him... she couldn't. They were  just too much alike.