Ripped Tights and Late Nights → Muke

twelve;

"I talked to my boss," Luke whispers, snuggled into Michael's side. "I resigned. I'm finished within the next two months. Mr Rogerson said that I need to come in on the tenth of October to finalise things, but I'm done."

Michael's world stops. Done? Done with the job, or done with Michael? where will Luke go; what will he do?

"Done with..."

"Done with this, the dancing, the old men, the- the selling myself? I hate it."

"Oh."

Michael's happy that Luke is getting out of here. Michael despises the way the other men touch Luke, touch his boy. He despises the thought of people running their hands all over him, doing things in private that leave Luke squirming. He hates the mindset it leaves Luke in: dirty, unclean, unwanted.

Ever since feelings developed between the two, Michael has wanted the world for Luke. Michael has wanted to shower him with love and jewels and riches. The sooner Luke gets out of here, the better.

The question is, is he leaving Michael behind? Will he even think of the man when he's off doing his own thing? Will he find someone else? Will Michael be replaced? Is Michael overestimating how much Luke cares for him?

"What are you going to do?"

Luke shrugs, nuzzling his nose into the skin over Michael's ribs. Michael thinks it's adorable. He stars threading his fingers trough Luke's hair and petting it, like a cat.

"I've got a tiny bit of money saved up. It'll get me to New York. I'll pick up a couple of jobs here and there, find somewhere to crash and audition for a chance to work for Ballet Deviare. It's all I want, Mike."

Mike. Not Michael, or daddy, or Mr Clifford. Mike.

Michael's heart breaks for Luke. He needs to help Luke, he needs to get him out of this crappy town and give him the chance to do what he loves.

Michael looks down, intending on kissing the blond beauty, when he notices the time on his rolex watch. "It's getting late," he notes, starting to sit up.

"Oh. Are you leaving?"

He needs to leave. He needed to leave the second he walked in here for the first time. He should never have came. He should never have stayed.

"Pass me my phone, please?" He says instead.

Luke hands it to him and he checks for any new messages. There's one from Brittany, sent only five minutes ago.

"Yeah, sorry, baby. Britt needs to be picked up from a party. I'll come see you soon though."

Luke looks doubtful. Michael needs to remember that Luke has grown accustomed to being worshipped by grown men and then thrown to the side like trash.

"I promise I'll be back," Michael says. "We can text? Are you comfortable with giving me your number?"

Luke laughs. When he laughs, he scrunches his eyes closed so that the skin by the corners crinkle and his teeth are on full display. Michael loves it. "I'm comfortable with your dick inside me, Mikey, I'm comfortable with giving you my number."

Michael smiles. He puts the number in as Luke calls it out and kisses the blond on his forehead. He puts his jeans on one leg at a time and waves goodbye to Luke, his shirt half undone.

::

"You got here quickly," Britt notes after she's hugged all her friends goodbye. She doesn't reek of alcohol and she didn't stay out all night before asking to be picked up. Michael's proud, honestly.

"Yeah, I was um. In the neighbourhood." Truthfully, Tristan lived near the club where Luke worked.

Brittany nods and is quiet for a minute. Michael doesn't think anything of it; she's had a big night.

"Dad?" She asks, hesitantly.

"Mm?"

"Are you- Do you and mum still love each other?"

It was so far from what Michael was expecting that it throws him off guard for a minute. He thinks about it. He knows off the bat that they're not in love, but do they love each other? Of course. She's been there for him through so much, there's no way he could possibly hate her. He loves her. He cares deeply for Leah, but he's not in love with her.

"Of course we do."

"Are you in love?"

Michael sighs. "Listen, Britt, sometimes adults fall out of love. It doesn't matter how intensely you were in love or for how long, sometimes two people change. It's like when you have two puzzle pieces, right? You break the ends off both and they don't fit together anymore. We're not who we used to be. Do I love her? Yes. Do I love you and Jake? Yes. Nothing's going to change. For now, just don't worry about it."

"Okay," she says. She doesn't sound happy with his answer, but she doesn't argue further.

"What brought this on?" Michael asks.

"I'm not eight, dad. I know you don't sleep in the same room. You two hardly ever talk. You two used to go out for dinner all the time, but you haven't in months. You disappear every other night without a word. I can tell you're having problems. I hope you can fix them."

::

"Leah, I think we should go out tonight. Just the two of us."

Brittany's words from the night before are running through his head. He misses simply talking to his wife. He misses being her best friend. He wants to spend time with her where they aren't silent or pretending to be the perfect family.

"Tonight?" Leah asks. "The kids will be left alone, though."

Michael shrugs. "They're old enough to look after themselves. There's this nice Chinese restaurant in town that Rocher recommended. Want to try it out?"

"I might have to work late tonight," Leah says. "I'm busy at work. Or, what if someone important calls and we're not here? What if something happens and we can't come back for the kids?"

It was at that moment, in the longest conversation they've had in a week, when Michael realised Leah was fishing for excuses too.

He folds his blazer over his arm and walks out the door, kissing Britt and Jake on the top of the head. It's a Saturday, so he doesn't need to be at work, but he has nothing else to do and he needs to clear his head.

He's sitting in his office when he gets the message.

Baby boy:

hey daddy

Michael was halfway through typing a response when a new text came through.

Baby boy:

Wanna play?

::

seven more chapters left !! we're just getting started though (: