the boss ➟ muke ✓

eight

"you look like a wreck," calum said with his brown eyes wide as michael tiredly got into the passenger's seat, shutting the door behind him. he glanced over at calum and raised his eyebrows at calum's polka dot pink robe and he said defensively, "don't judge, i was rushing and lacey's robe was the only thing nearby."

"i-i need a h-hug," michael whispered, leaning closer to his best friend. calum scooted in his seat before he supportively wrapped his arms around michael as the smaller boy buried his face in the pink robe, his body shaking as he tried not to cry.

"what happened?" calum asked as he pulled away, placing his hands on michael's shoulders and giving michael a concerned look. the black haired boy sniffled and wiped at his dull eyes, slowly meeting calum's eyes.

"i-i got really d-drunk last night, a-and i th-think i ch-cheated on brooks," michael said hesitantly, not really wanting to say those words because then that would mean michael would have to face the fact that it's true. calum frowned and took his hands off michael's shoulders when he heard what michael had said.

"you're kidding, right?" calum asked with eyebrows raised. michael shook his head and felt even shittier because of calum's reaction. "shit, what the fuck happened to you being head over heels in love with brooks? i thought you were like, seriously in love with him. kind of obsessed, even. i don't believe that you'd cheat on him, and you got drunk? mikey, what the fuck is going on?"

"h-he sent me th-these... these drunk texts that h-hurt me so much, c-cal, a-and i didn't know wh-what to do!" michael sobbed, bringing his knees to his chest and letting his dress pants soak up his salty tears. calum remained silent, just chewing on his plump lower lip, before he held his hand out.

"let me see the texts."

michael unstably reached into his pocket and took out his phone, placing it in the palm of calum's hand. calum unlocked the phone and went to michael's messages, reading what brooks had sent michael. the two stayed quiet the whole time; michael was too afraid to speak up and calum was too busy seething over the texts.

"this isn't okay!" calum hissed through his gritted teeth, "he knows how hard it was for you to get sober again. he can't just say that to you and get away with it. you broke your eight months of being sober, mike, he can't get away with that."

"wh-what are you g-gonna do?" michael whispered into his knees, "i-i cheated on him. i-i'm a shitty person. i ch-cheated on him t-twice, cal, in one d-day. with my f-fucking boss and c-coworker. my b-boss was right. i-i'm just a slut."

"no, you're not," calum said hastily, "mike, look at me. you're not a slut. i know you better than anyone, and one thing you're not is most definitely a slut. but... seriously, mike? your boss and coworker?" michael rested the back of his head on his seat, and calum quickly added when he saw michael's tearstained face, "don't get me wrong, i'm just worried, mate. you're not acting or looking like yourself. are you okay?"

"i-i think you know th-the answer to th-that just by looking at m-my face," michael mumbled, trying to wipe away some of his tears. "i-i'm just a dirty little s-slut. i don't k-know what i-i'm gonna do, cal."

"are you gonna tell brooks you cheated?" calum asked gently as he put the car in drive, deciding that he should start driving now if they wanted to get back by eleven. michael just shrugged and kept his glassy gaze straight ahead as calum began driving.

"i-i don't know if i-i should," michael whispered slowly, "h-he loves me. h-he would call off our engagement just like z-zayn did to perrie. i-i don't want to hurt h-him. th-this would kill him. h-he was just telling me y-yesterday about how h-he didn't want a-any other guy..." michael bit down on his thumb as tears started to swell up in his eyes again, "i-i fucked up."