even if he falls :: lashton

nine

comment throughout and i'll start chapter ten immediately ;-)

♡

nine

"want to go swimming?" 

luke raised an eyebrow, his phone smooshed to his cheek. michael had gotten his phone number through calum and at first texted luke, but then grew bored of the late replies. "swimming?" luke asked, and he was hesitant. 

he wasn't too sure about his body. if it was just with his parents or calum, he'd be all up for it. but this was michael who, one, luke didn't know too well and due to his previous actions, didn't trust just yet. and two, who liked boys and luke was a boy and michael was very attractive. he just felt nervous about being shirtless and alone with michael. 

"yeah, dude. i have a pool in my neighborhood," michael said, and luke tried to think of an excuse to say no. "or we can do something else . . . i wanna' hang out with you." 

biting his lip, luke shook his head. "no, let's just go swimming," he tried to sound enthusiastic. it must have worked in michael's ear because he sounded excited as he said that he'd pick him up in ten. "okay, i'll text you my address." 

he trudged up the stairs, dragging the bottom foot as he pulled it up. luke barely knew where his bathing suit was hiding in his mess of a room. was it even warm enough for swimming? once he got to his room, he opened the first drawer and found it immediately, groaning. they were navy blue with white flowers on them, his favorite. he slid his pants off and looked down at his thigh. luke gently traced the red lines and bumps gracing his leg, and he felt even uglier than he thought he did before. 

luke subconsciously began to scratch at the area once his boxers were off, not even realizing he was doing it until he felt the pain grow worse and he let out a whimper. he looked down and frowned upon seeing one of the wounds opened, and there was a tiny bit of blood. 

he peeked out his door to make sure his mom wasn't upstairs, and walked over to the bathroom. it wasn't major bleeding, just enough for him to need a bandaid and some neosporin. he sighed, wiping it up with some wet toilet paper. he searched the medicine cabinet for a bandaid, and then stuck it on, hoping it'd stay on in the pool. 

then he wandered back to his room, pulling his swimming trunks on. cringing at the mirror, he pulled a t-shirt back on and avoided looking at his reflection, sliding his flip flops onto his feet and heading downstairs. his mom was in the kitchen, talking on the phone. luke listened for a second before she could spot him. "i don't know, terry, he's just got so many problems. all i can do is hope therapy will help." silence. "next thing i know, i'll be taking him to a psychiatric hospital." 

luke cringed, walking into the kitchen. liz smiled at her son, telling whoever terry was that she'd call them back. "i'm going swimming with michael," he mumbled, grabbing a cup. he opened the fridge and collected the orange juice. "i don't know when i'll be back." 

"oh, that's good, honey! i'm glad you're making friends," she beamed, and he tried to hard not to roll his eyes. it wasn't like he was incapable of making friends, it was that he was so scared of rejection that he didn't try. he wasn't incompetent. "be careful. wear sunscreen." luke just drank his juice and avoided her stare the best he could. there was a knock at the door and he abandoned his drink on the counter as he muttered a goodbye and made his way towards it. 

michael was standing there, a goofy smile on his face. "ready?" he asked, and luke nodded. he raised his eyebrows at the car in the driveway. "i've got my learner's." 

"lucky," luke mumbled and carefully hopped into the passenger's seat. michael started the car and concentrated behind them to make sure nobody was coming before he backed out. he wasn't the best driver, luke noticed, but followed all the rules and didn't get distracted easily. "what was your first impression of me?"