blue neighborhood; muke

WILD

Michael and Luke were playing in Michael's backyard, imagining that they were Jedi, fighting the Sith lords to save Princess Leia.

"You'll never get away with this, Darth Vader!" Michael called, pointing his finger gun at one of his mother's hydrangea bushes. "Chewy, where'd you go?" he looked around for his new puppy, but couldn't see him anywhere. "Luke! Where's Chewy?"

"He's right here, with me!" Luke giggled. He came around the side of the house carrying the new dog, and his lightsaber. "He started to run away, so I had to go catch him for you." He passed the brown fuzzball over to Michael, who cradled him in his arms.

"Thanks, Luke! Mom would've killed me if I lost him." Michael said. "Now, let's get back to fighting for the life of the Princess!" The two ran off, fighting the Sith as they approached with their lightsabers and finger guns, followed closely by the pup that was the Wookie.

A short while later, Michael's mom called from inside the house.

"Boys, lunch is ready! Come and eat some pizza." The boys knew that they had to go inside, so they packed up their toys, and climbed the stairs into the house.

"But mom, the Sith Lords don't stop to have lunch, we've gotta keep fighting!" Michael complained. "And Princess Leia is gonna die!"

"I'm sure that the Sith Lord's mothers call them to eat their lunches as well, they don't want to be fighting on an empty stomach."

It was a blustery day, and the wind was blowing the dried leaves that had fallen all over the sidewalk. Michael was walking home, alone, with his thoughts accompanying him on the trip. His mind was full of thoughts about his best friend, Luke, and some of the thoughts were things that you shouldn't think about your best friend.

Michael had known Luke since they had been in kindergarten, and had always done everything together. If Michael wasn't at home, chances were, that he was at Luke's house. It was inevitable. They used to go to soccer practice together, pretend that they were Jedi, ride their bikes to the convenience store to buy candy, and even go on family vacations together. Michael had always said that Luke was the Mulder to his Scully, the Sully to his Mike, and the Patrick to his Pete. They were like two peas in a pod, and they always had been.

But lately, Michael had been feeling a little alone. He had recently come out as gay, and his father had practically disowned him, and Luke started to drift away. Michael never really had many friends other than Luke, so this was really taking a toll on him. It didn't help that he realised that he liked Luke, because he wasn't only losing a best friend, but also losing contact with the person he loved the most.

Michael continued to walk the familiar streets alone, plagued with thoughts of his best friend. He knew that he had to try not to fall in love with him, but it was too late. The feelings had been established, and there was no turning back. Michael wished that he could spend more time with Luke, trying to rebuild their friendship, but he also knew that he would probably just make it awkward for both of them.

As Michael walked past Luke's house, he could see the blonde sitting in his bedroom, playing video games with some other guys. Michael recognized them as kids from school, though he didn't know who they were. The last time that the two boys had seen each other outside of school was back over the summer, when their families had arranged their annual camping trip, and even then, they didn't see each other much. Luke stuck to his family's campsite for the entire week, with his then-girlfriend glued to his side.

Luckily, Michael's parents had invited the Hemmings over this weekend for a family get together where it would be "just like old times." Michael couldn't wait until the weekend, the week was simply just too long. There were two days left until he could sleep in, and two days left until he saw Luke again. It was driving him wild. As Michael continued down the road to his house, he imagined the various scenarios in which he and Luke were dating, including ones where they eventually got married, and adopted twins and got a puppy in a nice neighborhood in the suburbs. He and Luke had always said that they'd get married on the same day, in a Star Wars-themed ceremony, with All Time Low playing at the reception, and as they had grown older, Michael had hoped more and more that they would marry each other in that ceremony, featuring Jack Barakat and Alex Gaskarth. He knew that it was a stretch, and that Luke would probably marry some crazy rich supermodel, and she wouldn't even like Star Wars- or heaven forbid, not even know the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek.

When Michael finally got home, some rain had started to fall onto the neighborhood, which made it feel somewhat sad. The weather always affected Michael's mood, and the rain never made him feel better. He liked it, but it always caused his mood to take a plunge. He got inside, and kicked off his shoes at the door. He couldn't be bothered to take them upstairs with him, he was ready for a snack and an eternal slumber. He trudged up the stairs, and saw his mother sitting in the kitchen.

"Hey, Michael, how was your day, sweetheart?" she asked, getting up from the table. Michael continued past her to the fridge, and grabbed a can of soda from the top shelf.

"Eh, it was decent." He shrugged, popping open the tab on the top of the can. "It was school." He took a swig from the can, and started walking to his room. "I've gotta go get some stuff done. If you need me, you know where I am." He said, leaving the room.

"Remember that the Hemmings are coming over tonight, Michael! They should be here in an hour or so, and we're having chicken casserole. Be ready!" Michael heard his mom call from the table. He stopped dead in his tracks, and turned around.

"Tonight?" he asked. "I thought you said they were coming on Friday!" he put his can on the counter heavily, which made the fizzy beverage slop out of the can.

"No, I said tonight. Anyways, go do what you have to do, Luke and his parents should be here soon." She replied, grabbing a towel to mop up the spill. "And Jack and Ben aren't coming, remember. They're both away at college now. They grew up too fast." She continued, though she may as well have just been talking to herself, as Michael had stopped listening after he learned that the dinner was tonight.

"O-okay." Michael stuttered. "So Luke will be here in an hour? Cool." He left the room without another word, forgetting about his soda on the table with his mom. Michael practically ran into his bedroom, shutting the door tight behind him. He looked around-his bedroom wasn't too atrocious, it looked just like any teenage boy's bedroom, with clothes strewn across the floor, Xbox controllers resting on the floor, and the occasional half-empty bottle of water on any flat surface. He caught a glimpse of himself fin the mirror, and stopped. He examined what he was wearing-a pair of old, black skinny jeans with the knees worn out, which featured an oddly shaped white stain on the thigh, an old Green Day shirt, with his mildly greasy looking hair- and instantly decided he needed a shower.

After a little while of being in the bathroom, he emerged, and got changed into a cleaner pair of black skinny jeans, and his favourite red flannel shirt to make himself more presentable to the old family friends. He was ruffling his hair around, trying to make it look good, when there was a knock at his bedroom door.

"Yeah?" he called, fingers still styling his hair. "What's up?" Michael assumed it was his mother at the door, not paying attention to how long it had been since he had last talked with her. "What, mom?" he turned around, and saw Luke standing just inside his room.

"Hey, Mikey."

\\a.n Hey guys! I'm super glad that I finally got this up and started, I can't wait for you to read it. I tried t stick to the Blue Neighborhood theme as much as I could, though for some chapters (like this one) it'll be a bit trickier. Also, the reason for the recurring Star Wars theme is because I'm seeing The Force Awakens tonight!\\