Lips Of An Angel (Muke/Cashton)

Ch. 6 - My Love

"Mom, please don't yell after what I'm about to tell you because Michael is asleep in my bed and he really needs as much rest as possible" Luke says quickly as his mother walks into the house.

"Why would I get mad?" His mother asks in confusion, watching her son struggling to catch his breath, "Are you okay?".

"Just hear me out" he says, taking a deep breath and sighing.

"I'm listening" she assures her son as she starts walking towards the lounge room.

"Just remember that Michael is my whole life, please don't get mad at either of us" Luke says anxiously as he follows his mother and sits down with her on the couch.

"Are one of you in danger?" She's asks worriedly.

"No" Luke replies quickly, "N-Not exactly, it's just- ahh, you always say he's like a son to you and I'm sure if it was me you would get so mad and-".

"Luke, calm down, sweetie" his mother says calmly, "I feel like you're going to tell me that he got a girl pregnant, but I know that wouldn't happen because he's gay".

"I feel like this is worse" Luke bites his lip nervously, "Mom, he was crying about it, he's so scared and we're the only people he trusts".

"We'll do you know what that means to me?" He asks, "It means he wants help, he wouldn't tell you otherwise, and if he wants help, we are going to help him! Now breathe and tell me what's wrong".

"Well" Luke takes a deep breath and sighs, "Because of the pressure his parents put on him to be perfect, he- uhh, turned to marijuana. None of us knew but his mother found it in his room the other day and told him if he didn't get rid of it then he would be on the street, and his father hit him again, and he's so scared!".

Luke hadn't realised he had been crying until his mother had wiped away a few of his tears with her thumb. "Everything is going to be okay" she tells her son in sympathy.

"He told me he gets high to avoid anxiety attacks, because they started to get worse" Luke sniffs, "He started to get worked up and he was crying and I let him get high, please don't get mad at me, I just wanted him to be able to relax! Eventually we ended up snuggling and he fell asleep and the only reason I didn't wake him when you got home was because he had said he hasn't been getting much sleep lately".

"Luke, calm down, sweetie!" His mother says in a gentle voice, "I'm not mad at you, and I'm not mad at Michael either!".

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Luke cries, leaning forward to cry on his mother's shoulders, "N-Now do you think y-you & dad could maybe t-try and get custody of Michael?".

"Get custody of Michael?" She asks in surprise, wondering why she hadn't thought of it already.

"He needs to be taken away from them, mom, he said he's been thinking about trying to-" the words get stuck in Luke's throat as he remembers Michael a few hours earlier, crying as he told Luke what he'd been contemplating lately. "Again" is all he manages to say in attempt to finish his sentence.

"When did he tell you that?!" His mother asks in concern.

"Earlier, before he fell asleep" Luke replies, "He said 'I've been thinking about trying to kill myself again', but he also said that he doesn't actually want to do it".

Michael had tried to kill himself once before, back when he & Luke were still dating. He was so stressed out because of his parents that he snapped one day and gave himself two large gashes- one running down each arm. He has two huge scares now that will never go away, he tries to hide them as much as possible, but of course he couldn't do it forever. The excuse he & Luke had told everyone, including Calum & Ashton, was that he'd been riding a friend's motorbike and stacked it- the cuts along his arms were from landing on a barbed wire fence when he stacked the bike.