Luke
"Can you keep your eyes on the road?" Sophie laughed. "I'd kind of prefer not to die today."
"Sorry," Luke focused. "It's just, I can't believe we had no idea that Michael used to sneak off to the soccer oval. I mean, we all thought he was, like, allergic to the outdoors."
All of those times Michael disappeared and Luke thought he'd locked himself in his room playing video games or watching porn on his computer, he'd been making out with Sophie Green behind the old change rooms at the soccer oval. It was weird. It made Luke realise how capable Michael was of hiding things.
They were already on the highway, headed for an unknown destination. Luke was out of places to look for Michael and was actually wondering if maybe he'd over reacted. Maybe he's at a girl's house, or some other secret hiding place Luke didn't know existed.
Sophie laughed again, "I'm pretty sure he is, but it was the only place we could go and not be interrupted."
"Gross," Luke winced at the visual that was in his head.
"Not like that, you idiot. Anyway, that was a long time ago now. I don't know why I thought he'd be there now."
Luke's phone beeped from inside of his pocket and he lifted his hips slightly, holding the steering wheel with one hand and trying to take out his phone with the other. It wouldn't have been such a struggle except for the fact that Luke had a preference for tight jeans.
"Didn't I just mentioned something about not dying today?" Sophie joked, leaning across and taking the phone from Luke's pocket. Her fingers brushed against his jeans, making Luke feel kind of awkward.
"It's an address from Ivy, Sophie barely got the words out before she was typing it into the old GPS in Luke's mum's car. "It's a bar..."
How Ivy came to know where Michael was, Luke didn't know, but he knew this wasn't going to end well. There was only one reason Michael would go to a bar alone, and it wasn't to pick up girls. Luke pressed his foot down further onto the accelerator, sending the old Toyota another ten kilometres over the speed limit.
You're going to get a speeding ticket, he heard Sophie say quietly and she was probably right, but he didn't loosen his foot at all.
The polite GPS lady directed told Luke to stay on the highway and when he eventually took the exit, their surroundings were more congested than the suburbs he and Sophie had been searching earlier. The city was so much more congested than where Luke and Sophie grew up. More people, more buildings, more traffic, more problems. The houses were pressed up against each other like sardines in a can and most of them only had street parking for the residents.
Once they were completely immersed in a valley of skyscrapers, Luke circled the block three times, unable to find a carpark. Just as he was about to go around a forth time, Sophie suggested he go find Michael while she drove around in search of a park. Luke agreed, even though his mum had always lectured him about letting other people drive her car, because firstly this was an emergency. And secondly, he could afford to buy Liz a brand new car if Sophie Green somehow wrecked the shitty, old, crayon-scented car.
He ran towards the water, where a string of bars and restaurants lined the harbour. Luke was stopped four times by small groups of fans. He felt too guilty to say no and didn't want to explain why he was in such a rush so he posed for photos, trying to be as polite as he could be. Once he'd escaped the fourth group of fans, he broke out into a sprint. Don't be fooled by his lean physique - Luke wasn't fit at all - and the night air was cold in his lungs as he gasped for each breath.
The little breath that he had left was knocked out of him completely when his feet came to a halt and there - pressed against the brick wall of the bar, were Michael and Ivy. Kissing.
Michael's hands were wrapped around her hips, his thumbs tucked into the loops of her jeans. Ivy's fists were pressed into his chest and her dark hair was extra messy, like maybe Michael had just been running his hands through it.
Luke couldn't audibly react before Ivy pushed herself off of Michael, shaking her head at the red-haired boy. Michael turned to see Luke before Ivy did, and the moment Luke looked into the hooded, bloodshot eyes he forgot all about the fact that Michael had just been kissing the girl he liked.
"You fucking promised," Luke charged forward, slamming Michael back up against the wall. A lazy smile crossed Michael's face; he was too messed up to feel any pain.
"Luke, my best friend Luke," he mumbled, closing his eyes.
"What'd you take, Mikey?" Luke yelled, his hands gripping the collar of Michael's plaid shirt as he shook Michael, trying to get an answer out of him. But his eyes stayed shut. "Michael, Michael!" he shouted again, angry and desperate. His best friends lips parted slightly as his head lulled forward. Fuck. "I-Ivy, call an ambulance. Call an ambulance!"
He was screaming now, still holding onto Michael's shirt. His whole body was limp and heavy which was scaring Luke. If he let go of the collar, Luke didn't think Michael's body would be able to stand up alone.
Luke kept shouting Michael's name, vaguely aware of Ivy talking to the emergency operator. "Michael Clifford. We think he's taken something. No, he's not conscious."
"Is he breathing, Luke?"
Time seemed to stop as Luke waited for Michael's chest to rise, his ear pressed against his best friend's mouth waiting to feel a breath on his cheek. "Yes," Luke sighed in relief. He felt like he was going to black out. "He's breathing."
"Yes, he's breathing," Ivy repeated. I don't know what he took, he has a... a history, with different drugs."
"How much longer, Ivy?"
He felt her hand on his shoulder, "They're coming as quick as they can."
Not quick enough. "Come on, Michael, open your eyes," Luke was begging now. "I won't be mad, just open your eyes. We can't lose you."
Luke couldn't comprehend that this was actually happening. It felt like some sort of sick dream. He just needed Michael to hold on a little longer. Forget the band, he needed his best friend to be alright.
When he finally heard the ambulance sirens, Luke was overwhelmed by the relief. "Just a little longer, buddy. Just hold on a little longer," he whispered.
As soon as the paramedics arrived, they lifted Michael into the ambulance and fitted him with an oxygen mask. They kept asking Luke questions, ones that he couldn't answer, he'd gone into shock. Ivy repeated a lot of what she'd told the emergency operator before Luke climbed into the ambulance, his tall body barely fitting in the confined space next to Michael.
"Wait, Ivy, will you meet me at the hospital? And can you call Calum and Ashton? And...," Luke noticed Sophie had arrived. "Take Sophie with you, to the hospital."
"It's okay, Luke," she promised, her green eyes all wide and worried. "He's going to be okay."
The entire way to the hospital, Luke held onto Michael's hand repeating her words softly: He's going to be okay, he's going to be okay, you're going to be okay.
my heart hurts, poor michael
