imaginary / muke a.u | c.

four; we're not crazy

Calum watched Luke and Dr Smith confer through half-lidded eyes. He was drowsy, and everything was blurry, so though he could hear what they were saying he couldn't process it very well.

"He got violent after I tried to get him to come to you." Luke was saying. "He wouldn't let me near him. Michael apparently ran off, and he was freaking out about it."

"Why did you want him to come to me?" Doctor Smith asked.

"He somehow knows about the incident at the last hospital I was at. I don't know how. He said Michael told him, but..."

"Did you mention it at all, to anyone?"

"I told Ashton when he was prepping me on the sedatives, but that's all. I didn't see anyone else around."

"Do you think Ashton told him?"

"No."

"Alright. You say Michael ran off?"

"Yeah."

"And Calum was panicked?"

"Yes. He kept calling for him, asking me where he was."

"And what did you say?"

"I told him I didn't know. Doctor, I'm a little worried for my own safety. Calum told me that Michael has a crush on me, and now he knows about what happened... I'm just not comfortable, is all."

"Calum is harmless, Luke. Obviously Michael is as well. Nothing will happen to you, I promise. It's just a silly infatuation, and it'll never go beyond that."

"Alright."

"Can you take Calum back to his room? I don't think he's really up to speaking to me right now. And I'm certain you'll find that Michael will be in there when you arrive."

"Yeah, okay. It's part of his disorder, right?"

"You mean Michael? Yes. He won't stray from Calum for too long. It's unhealthy, and it's the reason he's in here in the first place. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to change things quite yet, but we're working on it."

"Okay. Thank you, Doctor Smith."

"No problem, Luke."

Calum looked up slowly as Luke helped him up.

"C'mon," the blonde said gently. "Time to go back to your room."

Calum nodded, and the other boy steadied him as he lead him out of the office.

***

Michael was sitting behind the door when Calum woke up properly. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, glancing at the clock on the wall above his bed.

11:00.

He had slept through the afternoon, through the night and through part of the morning.

How had he slept for so long?

"Luke had to sedate you." Michael filled in, almost reading Calum's mind.

"Where did you go yesterday?" Calum asked. Michael shrugged and looked at his feet.

"I had to think." he replied softly.

"What about?" Calum asked.

"It's nothing, alright?" Michael snapped in return, agitated. He stood up and started pacing.

"Jeez, sorry," Calum mumbled.

"Cal, do you ever think about leaving?" Michael asked once he finally stopped pacing.

"You mean this place? No. We're not allowed to."

"Well I know that, but we can... we can try to escape. I don't like it here." Michael suggested.

"We could get in big trouble, Mike," Calum replied, eyes wide.

"Wouldn't it be worth it? Even just trying to get out of here... I can't just keep sitting here doing nothing while we're locked away like lunatics," the blue-haired boy persisted.

"We are lunatics, Michael! That's why we're here!" Calum snapped.

"What about you is crazy?" his best friend replied. "What do you do that isn't normal, that isn't exactly the same thing you've been doing your entire life? We're not crazy." he growled. Calum ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head.

"We're here for a reason," he said.

"No we're not. We're here because our parents hate us and my parents convinced yours that we'd be better off here." Michael nodded vigourously.

"So what do you think we should do, huh? Walk out? Just open the front doors and walk until we get caught and dragged back?" Calum exploded.

"Of course not, you idiot," Michael replied. "We need to plan it. We need to figure out times and escape routes. I think the back exit from the kitchen is the best place to leave from."

"But the kitchen staff are always there. How are we gonna get past them?" Calum asked.

"We wait until it's late. Three o'clock in the morning. The kitchen staff will all be asleep, and we'll go just after the orderlies make their rounds. That way we'll have the most time to get away without being caught." Michael said.

"And what do we do after we get out, Mikey?" Calum was calm now, though his eyes were still wide.

"We run. We go someplace they won't find us. America, or England. Far enough away that we'll never have to come back here."

Calum paused and looked down at his hands, a frown drawn together over his eyes.

"I won't get to see my family again," he said softly. Michael's gaze softened, and he moved to sit next to his friend. He wrapped his arm around the taller boy's shoulders.

"They were never gonna do you any good anyway," he said softly. "All adults do is lie and push us around. They just want to control us. The sooner we get away from them all, the better off we'll be. Have you never even once thought about what they say? 'Do this, do that, don't forget to do your chores, no you can't do that, go to school, turn down your music, go to bed, don't talk back, don't eat too many sweets, don't stay out too late, get good grades'," he ranted.

"They don't let us have a mind of our own. They think they can keep us sheltered until we're old enough to get a job, or to get married, but then they expect us to make decisions before that - while still treating us like children. It's like they can't decided whether we're adults or kids, so they treat us like kids but they force us to make adult decisions. How are we supposed to live if they don't let us? And what if we don't want what they do? Not everyone wants to get a stable job and get married. Not everyone wants a normal life. Some people want to be extraordinary. Some people wanna rock the stage, or tour the world, or be on the big screen or in the news. Not everyone wants normal."

Calum was nodding along as Michael spoke, and after the other boy finished things between them were silent for a few moments.

"When are we doing this?" he finally asked.

"Tomorrow night." Michael replied.

Calum nodded again.

// The next two chapters will be short - I'm sorry, but you'll find out why after! What do you think of Michael and Calum's plan?