A Work of Art ＊ Muke AU

Chapter Nineteen

Today was the first day in years that Luke did not want to get out of bed at all. He was fine with going to school and all, but just this once, he felt the opposite way. He dreaded having to get up and go.

Luke had to go to school and walk around the halls, seeing Michael with his friends. He completely betrayed Luke and left him alone in the dust - but that wasn't even the worst of it all.

Michael made him happy. All the stress about school and flashbacks about James from years past went away when Luke was with Michael. Why? Well, Michael was the type of friend who wanted to be there for someone.

Luke saw Michael as that type of person when he had first started talking to him, but now, he came to realize that he was wrong. Michael was the type of friend who stuck around for a while until he got bored, then moved on to someone else.

That was the part that hurt the most - the fact that someone who made Luke happy could also make him sad.

Luke was sad over Michael and didn't want to see him, but at the same time, a small part of him wanted to apologize to Michael and try to mend things with him.

Luke couldn't explain the mixture of emotions he was feeling.

He hadn't really had a friend like Michael in a long time. Something made Luke want to gain back that friendship and be happy again.

＊

Luke had seen Michael sitting by Calum's locker again with Tristan, James and Calum.

He was itching to do it. All he had to do was apologize to Michael. Seems like a piece of cake, right? Wrong. Luke couldn't seem to do it.

Why? Luke felt a sense of anger and frustration from the lingering pain of what Michael had done to make him so upset.

He shouldn't have let it bother him, but he did.

He was tired of being bothered by him.

Luke didn't want to bug Michael while he was sitting with his friends, so he decided to wait until art class.

It always came back to art class.

＊

Luke was nervous to the point where if he said anything, he would stutter and feel as if he screwed it up. He didn't know what to say to Michael or how to say it.

He saw Michael walking towards him and his heart was beating rapidly.

"Look, I have something to tell you. Don't comment or judge me until I'm finished explaining everything, because I already know you too well."

Well, now he didn't have to worry about not saying or doing the right thing.

"First, let me explain the whole rumor about me being expelled. It's not true. Here's what really happened: I was accused of spray painting the school building because the person who really did it left, afraid of getting caught, and I was the only person who was standing there. Right away, the principal assumed that I was the spray painter and expelled me without giving me a chance to explain anything. The reason I left your house early was that I had gotten a text from James and was slightly freaked out about it, not doing what to do. I didn't want you to be suspicious, knowing about what happened between the two of you a couple years back. Going along with that, I'll explain why you saw me sitting with him and Tristan at lunch these past couple days. Tristan made friends with Calum, and Calum made friends with James. I think that explains everything," Michael told him, "Can you forgive me?"

Luke sighed.

"Michael, I'm sorry for snapping at you yesterday. I was in shock from what had happened and was really upset and just kind of... took it out by yelling unintentionally, I guess. I didn't mean what I said. You were right, I should have let you explain everything before saying anything else. Now that I did, and you've told me the truth, I forgive you."

Michael smiled.

"So how about we finish this little work of art, eh?"

Author's Note: Hey... or hi... oops! Hehe. I'm feeling a mixture of emotions about this story right now because this is the second-to-last chapter.

What are your thoughts on what had happened with Michael, based on what he said to Luke?

Luke forgiving Michael?

Them making up?

The next chapter is the last one...

-Megan :-)