Souvenir [Complete]

Ten. Yellow Tape

"Why didn't you tell me he was back?" Luke barged into Michael's front door when he answered.

"Yes you can come in. Good to see you, too," Michael hummed sarcastically.

"I'm being serious. Do you know how crazy I feel right now? I feel like I'm spiraling again."

Michael closed the door more sober. "I didn't know how to tell you, cause you were enjoying your time with Brian. I didn't want to ruin that."

"But it didn't help me because I was completely blindsided when we went to the diner for lunch today. Guess who our waiter was."

"Oh, Lukey...I'm so sorry," Michael hugged him.

Luke melted into it softly but didn't reciprocate yet. "I'm a horrible person..."

Michael shook his head. "You're human for feeling emotion. And for being upset that you're wrong."

"But that's the weird part. I don't feel upset. I feel guilty."

Michael sat Luke on his bed. Michael's room was soft in a different way. He had bright oranges and purples and lime green accent colors but plush blankets and chairs and pillows. The lamp lighting made everything warmer, and the posters on the wall tied everything together to be cozy, not claustrophobic.

It was a place that Luke felt safe to spill his guts.

"You feel guilty? Like you still have feelings for Ashton?"

"I don't know." Luke whimpered, clutching a circular yin-yang symbol pillow in his arms. "I don't think it's worse than before. I think it's just lingering. Cause I still feel bad for making my house inhospitable for him. And for making him wait on us today."

"Luke..." Michael brushed some of the hair out of Luke's face. "Remember what you told me. Remember this past week. Was that fun?"

"Of course," Luke nodded, now resting his chin on the edge of the pillow.

"And do you think Ashton would give you the same feeling?" Michael asked.

"Uh, well I've known Bri—"

"Nope, none of that. It's yes or no."

"No..." Luke sighed.

"Look at that, we're making progress already." Michael purred.

"But you don't understand, you should have seen the way he was just walking up in the middle of our conversation," Luke rubbed his eyes. "And he was talking like a robot. He didn't smile the whole time."

"Don't feel bad for him," Michael said. "He was trying to insert himself. Literally. Don't let him get away with that. Now he knows that you're serious."

Luke didn't mention the fact that they'd locked eyes. And he definitely wasn't gonna talk about how he felt  when they did. "You're right, Mikey."

"I know I'm right. Fuck this guy for trying to be a home wrecker. Again."

"Okay, I won't talk to him anymore," Luke nodded. "Not that that was an issue..." he corrected quickly so Michael wouldn't suspect that he had been thinking about it all day.

"What you have to do is talk about Brian all the time. I'll come with you when I'm not at work. I'll be your defense."

"No offense Mikey, but I severely doubt Ashton would be walking the streets at night. He's more of a home body."

"It's not for him. It's for you. If you say something enough you can convince yourself of it. It's like a hypnotherapy thing," Michael cooed. "But one you can do by yourself."