The Love Challenge [ Muke AU ]

Chapter 1

"And it was like we were in school again, where we wanted to kill each other on a daily basis. I'm so confused, Calum." said Michael as he got out of his boots. They just got back from a typical 'cat emergency'. A little girl called and said her cat was stuck on the roof and she couldn't get it to come down. But the cat got down on its own before they got there. The life of a firefighter is tough.

"Have you been fighting over anything lately? You know he gets cranky when you fight." asked Calum, already used to the married couple's drama.

"Yeah, this has been going on for some time now. He's been cold and distant, I'm really worried."

"I don't know man, maybe try talking to him after work? Make a nice dinner and talk it out." Calum was never the best at giving advice, but he tries and Michael was grateful for that.

"Yeah... yeah, I may try that. Thanks Calum." Michael said and smiled at his friend.

Michael had known Calum since before they could walk. They went to the same school and had the same dream. To become firefighters. They also loved music a lot, they even formed a band in high school. But, there was something about the profession and helping people that overpowered the love for music.

Michael met Luke in school, ninth grade to be exact. They hated each other other's guts for a whole year, then somehow in tenth grade became best friends.

Michael was a closeted bisexual throughout the majority of his school years. What got him to come out was, in fact, Luke.

Luke was openly gay and was never embarrassed by it, but was also pretty shy and insecure. He never had a lot of friends, but also never let people bully him.

Michael doesn't really know when he started liking him, but he would say it was around the time they became friends and stopped trying to rip each other's heads off.

As Michael unlocked the door of their home, aka the Muke Residence, named by Calum Hood himself, he was greeted by silence, which wasn't surprising, considering Luke was working his and Ashton's shift.

He decided to take a shower amd think about the best ways to confront his husband.

As he stripped down, he caught sight of his scars in the bathroom mirror. When he was fully naked he stepped in front of the mirror and inspected himself.

He had four scars, one from being clumsy and three from saving people.

One was on his right hand, from about a year and a half ago. He was rescuing a little girl from a house and had to push some furniture away, and since it was on fire, he burned himself.

The second one was on his left shoulder, and he got it about a year ago. Luke and him went for a walk in the park when they saw kids gathered around a tree, trying to get something off. Their ball was stuck between the branches, and Michael, being reckless little hero, decided to climb the tree. He succeeded at climbing and getting the ball, but he was a little too heavy for a poor branch broke under him and he fell right on his shoulder. He cut it up pretty bad on a sharp rock, and had to keep his arm in a sling for a few weeks.

He had one on his forehead from being clumsy in high school. Calum still makes jokes about it.

The last one was on his chest and it was the biggest one. And the most fatal.

He got it four years ago, Luke and him have been married for a year and they lived in a nice, cosy house. That day Luke was sick and stayed home fro work. Michael was at work when they got an emergency call. A house was on fire and it was burning fast. Michael wasn't paying attention to the coordinates since he wasn't the driver, but when he regocnised the street he was filled with dread.

He saw the burning house and didn't even wait for the car to stop. He jumped out and ran straight into the house. Usually he doesn't panic and is professional in these situations, but now he was shaking and barely thinking straight.

"Luke! Lu- cough" he yelled, choking up on the thick smoke. He ran into the living room and frantically looked around for the blonde lad. The furniture was on fire, but he would have to go through it to get to the kitchen where the fire most likely started.

He took a deep breath, as deep as he could with the smoke, and ran to the other side of the room.

He ran into the kitchen and guickly covered his nose, the smoke thicker here than in the other room. He took off his shirt and put it over his nose and mouth, now left in a simple white undershirt.

He went over to the counter, and gasped looking over it.

There, on the floor, was Luke. He was in his pajamas, some of it caught fire but luckily it didn't burn his skin. The cabinets and the oven were on fire and if he didn't get Luke out of there soon, it will burn him.

Michael threw the shirt on the floor and quickly but gently scooped the tall lad up in his arms. He hurried to the door, wanting to get his love outside as soon as possible.

As he ran he tripped up a few times, but never came close to dropping Luke. He was almost out the door when he heard a loud crack above his head. A big piece of the wooden roof was gonna fall off. Without thinking, Michael threw Luke out the door, and right in time since a second after, the piece of wood fell right on him. The last thing he remembers is a strong burning sensation and someone loudly yelling his name.

He was unconscious for a long time after that and woke up in the hospital, a bandage wrapped tightly around his chest.

Luke was also hoslitalized for inhaling a big ammount of smoke.

Turned out Luke wanted to make tea for himself but spilled water all over the stove and wanted to wipe it off before it got too hot. But as he cleaned it up he felt dizzy and fell unconscious, leaving the rag on the turned on stove, which started the fire.

Michael ended up having to stay in the hospital for a good six months, but it was a small price since he should be grateful he was even alive.

He lifted his hand up, running over the scarred skin and sighed. It took him a while to convince Luke and show him he was okay and alive after the incident. The poor lad blamed himself for Michael getting hurt, which was actually Michael's fault since he was reckless and ran into the fire bare handed.

After inspecting the scar a little more he decided it was about time he took a shower.

While in the shower, be thought about ways to talk to Luke. Dinner seemed like the best option, though he woud have to order the food since he can't cook for shit.

He just hoped it would all turn out alright.