Live // Muke //

7: Excuses

"My car broke down."

"I was throwing up this morning."

"I witnessed a hit-and-run."

"The bus crashed."

"My cat was puking like crazy."

"I lost my keys."

"An aunt died."

"I fainted this morning."

Michael inhaled smoke into his lungs before plopping his cigarette into a plant pot outside Luke's house that already had about 20 cigarettes inside that no one knew about.

He rang the doorbell, frowning when he heard Luke screaming something and the sound of glass breaking.

The green eyed boy feverishly rung the doorbell, pounding on the door when everything went silent inside. "Luke! Mr. Irwin! Let me in. What's going on in there?!"

No response.

Michael almost plunged inside when the door swung open and out came an angry, red faced Ashton.

"You always come so fucking late, I'm sick of you and your stupid excuses!" He yelled, shoving the confused boy out of the way and mumbled curse words under his breath as he slammed his car door shut and took off in his sleek, black mustang.

Michael dropped a bag of groceries he was carrying, rushing inside and gaped slightly when Luke's red walker was on the floor, Luke sprawled on the floor besides it.

"Hey, hey, hey," Michael said softly, rushing over towards the blonde boy and went on his knees to help him up.

Luke's hair wasn't in its usual quiff, the blonde hair was everywhere except for a strand hanging by his forehead. Sweat was on the boys face, his cheeks red as tears silently escaped him.

"What happened, love?" Michael asked quietly, helping Luke sit up and held his back so he wouldn't fall back. Luke hiccuped loudly, "I -- I he -- he was s -- so furious at m -- me."

"It's okay, he's gone. It's fine," Michael whispered, hesitantly hugging the sniffling boy as he stuffed his face into his chest, tears soaking the black shirt Michael was wearing.

"Let's get you cleaned up," Michael smiled forcefully, the smile quickly fading when Luke looked him in the eyes. His blue eyes were red rimmed, tear stained cheeks extremely visible.

Michael helped Luke up, setting him on the black leather couch he was interviewed on only weeks ago. Michael ran his thumbs under his bosses eyes, wiping away his salty tears. After that he pushed Luke's hair back with his hands and adjusted his shirt slightly. He quickly went outside and picked up the paper bag filled with groceries he had bought -- with the money Luke gave him to buy 'extremely processed and artificial foods.'

He silently set the bags down on the marble counter of Luke's kitchen, slowly turning back and frowned when he saw Luke's shoulders shaking harshly, quiet sobs leaving the boy.

Michael walked back over to Luke, picking up his walker and rolling it towards Luke then sat down besides him. "He hit you."

"He was just furious," he sniffled, his nose a light shade of red. "You hired me to listen to you right? Well, I'm here to listen," Michael said softly.

"I messed up his life," he whispered. "B -- before I was diagnosed he was happy, we were both happy. And a
-- after I was diagnosed I began to feel like -- like a waste of space because I'm the person that fucked up everything --"

"No, no, don't say that. It's not your fault." Michael put a hand on Luke's knee, soothingly rubbing the clothed skin and smiled at Luke before continuing. "It wasn't a choice you got to make. It's his choice to be abusive towards --"

"He's not abusive."

"Let me talk."

"Ashton's never hit me."

"Then what are all those bruises you have, huh?" Michael retorted, running a hand over Luke's cheek and showed him the residue of foundation the boy had on his face to cover a bruise.

"You shouldn't even be worrying about me, I'm just the person that gives you your checks," Luke shot back, he gripped his left wrist and took Michael's hand off his knee with his right hand. He just didn't have the strength anymore.

"I'm not afraid of Ashton, because I love him. He does everything for me. He feeds me, he bathes me, he'd even breathe for me if he had the opportunity to."

And for some reason, Michael felt betrayed almost. But he ignored the feeling and shot Luke a soft yet painful gaze. The red head bit the inside of his cheek, he felt the need to cry with Luke and he didn't know why.

"Fear isn't always a feeling," he stated, looking at the blonde with tear stainted eyes. "What do you mean?" "Nothing. Let me help you up to the bath, you're a mess."

"Ashton helped me take a shower this morning --"

Michael shushed the blonde boy, laughing quietly when Luke looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows. The duo made their way upstairs, Michael having an arm around Luke's waist and the other flat on the wall for support.

When they finally made it upstairs Michael then led them to the bathroom and sat Luke down on a chair set in the middle of his shower. Michael slowly undressed the boy, looking up at Luke with a 'you lied to me' look whenever he spotted a bruise on the 25 year old.

Michael hesitated before taking off his own shirt, Luke gaped at him, covering his eyes. "Put your shirt back on!" He yelled, peeking through the cracks of his fingers and laughed lightly when Michael looked at him as if offended.

"I am offended," Michael said, putting a hand in front of him and sassily looked at Luke who held back a giggle. "Don't be," Luke whispered, and even though Michael didn't hear due to the running water he still blushed.

"I just don't want to get that shirt wet," Michael shrugged. "Why?" "Because that's the stupid shirt you gave me," Michael blushed, cheeks turning a light shade of crimson red.

"I feel special," Luke laughed, loving the feeling of the water running down his aching back. The blonde froze when Michael gripped the sides of his face with his thumb and index finger and tilted his head to the side.

"He really fucked you up, didn't he?" Michael spoke, forcing Luke to look him in the eyes. "He didn't --" "Stop, okay? You don't have to admit it by talking, your eyes give it away," Michael sighed sadly. He lightly scrubbed Luke's bare chest with a luffa and chuckled quietly.

"Pink, I like it."

"Don't judge me, pink's my favorite color," Luke scoffed, sassily rolling his blue eyes and laughed loudly when Michael glared at him.

And maybe Michael went to the store after he finished helping Luke to bed later that night. And maybe he bought pink hair dye and stayed up until midnight trying to bleach and dye his hair while half asleep. And maybe he did that just to put a smile on his bosses face.

-

I love the end sm asdfghjkl

thoughts so far? on Luke and Michael's relationship thingy? the book so far?

thanks for reading, don't forget to smile ya little shits :--)

~ xoxo ~

Linda