(let's just take a moment to appreciate this picture. muke. smile. slippers. hands. hair. mICHAELS LEGS)
it was five am before the boys fell asleep, cards and beer cans located all around the living room and kitchen. now eight am, with Michael only getting three hours of sleep, he hears knocking on the door. he slowly gets off the couch, making sure not to wake up Luke, or anyone. but they're all knocked out anyways.
forgetting to look through the door hole, a rule ashton has, Michael just swings the door open after unlocking the locks. he's too tired to think, so when he saw his mother, his first instinct was to scream. still a little drunk, of coarse.
he panics and grabs an umbrella, pointing it towards his mother, "come any closer I'll-" he hiccuped, "I'll whack you!"
ashton runs to the door, only in socks and boxers, face reddening as he saw Karen. he too, still a little drunk and tired but, ashton can control it. he snatches the umbrella from Michael and hits him in the head, "idiot. go lay don't with Luke before he wakes up worried."
Michael nods and wipes his eyes.
"no," Karen snapped. "I need to talk to him."
"at eight in the morning? no, come again some other time. actually, don't come back at all. got it?"
"no," she responded. "I'll be back, and me and Michael will talk."
we'll see about that, ashton thought as he closed the door. Ashton walked back to the living room, laying right beside Calum on the floor where he was, looking up at Michael on the couch.
"you okay Mikey?"
he shook, "n-no."
"c'mere," ashton smiled.
Michael cuddled into Ashton's chest, Ashton wrapping his arms around the smaller boy. he rubbed his back, trying to get Michael to stop shaking. he understood Michael was upset, he just panicked when he saw his mom, the woman who ruined Michael's life. yeah Aden did but, his mother was the one who started that.
"I-I don't wanna talk to her ash, how did she find us?"
"I don't know mike, I really don't. maybe Aden? that's my first guess, but let's talk about this tomorrow okay? get some sleep, you're tired, and still a little wasted," ashton chuckled. "as much as I love you, look at Luke. he's stirring, go back up there with him."
Michael nodded with a little yawn, climbing back onto the couch, Luke waking up. he looks at Michael and frowns tiredly, Michael just smiles and kisses his lips softly.
"I'm here," Michael says.
Luke being so tired was just out of it, he pulls Michael closer to him and lays his head on Michael's chest. his left hand softly set by his face, also on Michael's chest. Ashton watches, waiting until Michael falls asleep to fall asleep. when he's sure, he turns to Calum. Ashton's cold, and Calum's warm, so he cuddles into his side. even though Calum was asleep, he still managed to turn over and instinctively hold ashton, everyone now comfortable and cuddly.
-
Michael was nervous, scared, and felt sick, but that was probably just all the beer from last night. he was sitting up on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket, all you could see was his face. and how he was shaking. Luke, even ashton tried to talk to him but he just stares blankly at the off tv. it makes everyone upset, especially ashton, he just wants everything to be normal.
"Michael Gordon Clifford," Ashton says, using his whole name, making Michael even more scared. "oh c'mon Michael."
"lock the door, and board it up," Michael says shakily, looking ashton in the eyes.
